Guitarist/composer/vocalist Ian Jones is a kind of mix between Bob Dylan and John Denver on this acoustic album with Jesse Siedenberg/dr-b-org-g-erc, Dave Palmer-Aaron Embry/p and Tom Ball/harm. The six tunes are almost all secular leanings of biblical foundations, with songs like “Secular” or “Promised Land” giving worldly messages with Sunday Morning hints. The dark with electrical undertones of “Born-Again Sinner” reflect someone who’s using a heritage for a different direction in life, while the Byrds-like “Liars, Criminals, Beggars and Thieves” is a minstrel’d type of street corner sermon. New wineskins without the wine.
On acoustic guitar and vocals, composer Kris Gruen is teamed up with Rob Morse/b, Randy Schrager/dr, Paul Casanova/eg, Charles Newman/key, Jack Mcloughlin/psteelg, Probyn Gregory/horn and various guests. The songs have a sort of early Eagles peaceful easy feelin’ attitude, as on “Water into Wine” and When She Says”, while he can work up a snarl on “Nothing in the World” and shows his blues side with Morse on “When I’m Down”. There’s a parlor feel with Newman’s piano on “Apple Tree” and folksy guitar strums to “Pictures of” while the strings form droplets on the soft “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory”. Unpretentious portraits.
West Virginia bred Sierra Ferrell is a bit of a vagabond both spiritually and musically. Most of the time on this album she’s right in the pocket of vintage bluegrass, with a penetrating Carter-inspired voice with rich harmonies on the banjo’d “Jeremiah” and two stepping to “Silver Dollar”. She waltzes with conviction with steel strings on “Bells of Every Chapel” and is old-timey for the homily of “Give It Time”. Then, on the other side of the tracks, there is a dark haunt of ominous atmospheres as her voice stretches over “Made Like That” , she sounds like she’s talking right to you on the quirky “Why’d Ya Do It’ and is absolutely eerie as she taps into her inner Margaret Hamilton on the spooky yet swinging “The Sea”. She’d definitely keep you guessing on a first date, but I think you’d get home all right.