The success of the Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack brought mainstream exposure to many under-appreciated folk artists, including bluegrass sensation Gillian Welch.
Welch is probably best known for her contributions to Oh Brother-she was nominated for a Grammy for her collaboration with Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris on the mesmerizing sirens' lullaby \Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby""-but her Okie drawl and sepia-tinted lyrics had already made her a star on the folk circuit following her 1997 debut, Revival.
Critics inevitably compared her to Woody Guthrie, but instead of embodying her generation as he did, the Los Angeles-raised Welch and her song writing partner David Rawlings wrote songs that sounded antiquated as soon as they were released. The lyrics on her second album, Hell Among the Yearlings, could have been taken directly from an Alan Lomax recording.
Welch escaped being pigeonholed as some kind of dust-bowl novelty act by branching out to include more personal, contemporary songs in her more recent work. She continues that trend in her new record, Soul Journey, which showcases her country-rock sensibilities for the first time.
The album kicks off strong with the song ""Miss Ohio,"" a teenage rebellion anthem clad in steel guitar and a steady, driving beat. For those who have been anxiously waiting for her to go electric, this album offers gratification from its opening strains. Welch adds accompaniment from a variety of instruments, including drums, fiddle and electric bass to many of the songs, adding a variety and depth that lacked on some of her previous acoustic work.
She has always emphasized the beauty of simplicity in her music, and she nails it here with airily naked acoustic arrangements of the traditional songs ""Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor"" and ""I Had A Real Good Mother and Father.""
But she shines most in the plugged-in selections, especially the album's best and final song, ""Wrecking Ball,"" a free-for-all jam of guitar, fiddle and electric organ about the wear and tear of a life on the road. ""Started down a road of sin/ Playing bass under a pseudynymn/ The days were rough and it's all quite dim/ But my mind cuts through it all/ Like a wrecking ball,"" Welch sings.
Those fans who want Welch to stick to re-creating the music of a bygone era will not like Soul Journey, but those who appreciate an artist's ability to grow and change will see this album for what it is, her best work yet.
All in all, Beneath This Gruff Exterior is a typical John Hiatt production. With the Goners, he's crashing around on the guitar and flinging out hooks that pile up on one another. The album, like previous works, Perfectly Good Guitar and The Tiki Bar is Open, has a style of rock and blues that is infused with uncomfortable pessimism and melancholic guitar work. All through it, Hiatt's own sound dominates.
John Hiatt's voice takes a while to get used to. He sings like he's smoking in the studio and half the time he sounds like he gargled gravel before grabbing a microphone. He produces a rough sound that has an edge of bitterness and enough anger to suggest that the music business shouldn't be his line of work.
For most of his career, Hiatt has been covered without seeing his fair share of the spotlight. His greatest initial success, 1987's Bring the Family, brought more musicians covering his songs than radio play of his own versions. He rode the critical success with Slow Turning and Stolen Moments and eventually peaked with 1993's Perfectly Good Guitar.
In the decade since then, Hiatt has slipped into something of a cult status, having drawn a loyal following and not much else in the past years. However, Beneath This Gruff Exterior might reverse the trend.
The album finds a match between the occasionally somber themes of scarred identities and persistent disappointment. Hiatt's voice suggests a near ideal equilibrium between the shoulder shrugging acceptance of those disappointments and the way he puts up with them.
The first track, ""Uncommon Connection"" starts off with, ""Well I do my best thinking sitting on my ass/ Sittin' here waiting for things to pass."" Hiatt seems to be brushing off the world and the problems that go along with it, but can't help worrying about it. He comes close to brooding throughout the album but never really wants to feel sorry for himself.
In ""Window on the World"" Hiatt rattles his vocal chords with lines like, ""A greasy shade and a curtain drawn/ A broken glass and a heart gone wrong/ That's my window on the world."" He's fed up, but not enough to do anything about it.
While Beneath This Gruff Exterior may seem like an abrasive production, it's loaded with enough straightforward honesty and striking songs to make it an album worth checking out.
