Down From the Mountain: Live Concert Performances by the Artists & Musicians of O Brother, Where Art Thou? Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this album the first week it was released becuase it featured three of my favorite artists, The Whites, Emmylou Harris, and Alison Krauss and I have found this album to be even BETTER than the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack! Emmylou Harris offers a fantastic version of 'Green Pastures' with Gillian Welch on harmony. The Whites perform an old tune 'Sandy Land' with Sharon White's amazing vocals on lead! Alison Kraus & Union station have two songs on the album, the first is 'Wild Bill Jones' with Krauss's band member Dan Tyminski on lead vocals, the second tune from Alison is her fantastic 'Blue & Lonesome'. Gillian Welch also presents two of her own tunes, with 'I Wanna Sing That Rock & Roll' being the better of the two. The album closes with Gillian & Alison's IBMA award winning 'I'll Fly Away'. The only disappointment on this album is the exclusion of bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, who performed on the concert, and is on the video release of the concert. But all in all, this a fantastic album for the bluegrass lover!

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A Friend of a Friend Review

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(More customer reviews)Reasons this is a 5 star album---tracks 1, 4 and 9; great vocal harmonies (to be expected from Gillian and David); David's guitar playing (of course); and the overall Rawlings-style production that makes the music sound so effortless.
One thing that leaves me slightly disappointed is the limited new material (tracks 2 and 3 have been released on other albums and tracks 4 and 8 are covers). I've been told that one could also argue that track 5 is a semi-cover since the melody was taken from an old blues song, but since I was not familiar with that song, it was new to me. So out of 9 songs only 5 of them were "new". To be fair though, the Oberst/Young cover is so fantastic, it kind of has a life all its own. It's just been so long since their last album, I really wanted MORE.
The main thing that I am not crazy about is the heavy-handed Old Crow Medicine Show bleed into the Gillian and David sound. I know this is simply a matter of taste--I like OCMS and own a couple of their albums--but I would prefer that their influence be more subtle. Tracks 6-8 could easily appear on an Old Crow album with guest vocalists David and Gillian. I'm not a purist who despises the idea of them straying from their usual two guitar/two vocals routine. I just don't love the idea of Gillian and David sounding like guests on their own album.
But if you're a fan, you're going to buy this album and you're going to like it. It's nice to see David Rawlings get the accolades he deserves and I'm excited to add this to my collection.


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A Friend of a Friend is the first record by Dave Rawlings, the guitarist, producer, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show and Robyn Hitchcock. Ketch Secor, Willie Watson, Kevin Hayes and Morgan Jahnig of OCMS join Rawlings and Welch on this record beside newer friends Benmont Tench from the Heartbreakers and Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes.

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Gillian Welch - The Revelator Collection (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Gillian Welch Revelator Collection DVD is 59 minutes of black and white footage of the great folk music duo Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Though Welch always gets solo billing on the duo's recordings, this disc does reveal that this is a duo act, as anyone who's seen them knows. There are three edited "videos" shot in a studio in Nashville, "Elvis Presley Blues," "My First Lover" featuring Welch on banjo, and the title track. Then there are nine songs filmed live at performances in Carrboro, NC and Knoxville, TN in 2001. The songs are a very tender "April the 14th," the Welch-penned "Wichita" which was a bluegrass hit for Tim O'Brien, a rousing "Red Clay Halo," a beautiful rendering of Bob Dylan's "Billy" from the Pat Garrett soundtrack, Neil Young's "Pocahontas," a second "Revelator," David Rawlings' lead vocal on the Bill Monroe "I'm On My Way Back to the Old Home," Townes Van Zandt's "White Freghtliner Blues," and a "bonus track" of the fine "I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll." The moments before "Pocahontas" show Welch and Rawlings humbly discussing the box that is always behind them when they play, and a harmonica that is found inside. This casual discussion best conveys the cozy, improvised feeling that one gets a Welch-Rawlings concert. The Welch-Rawlings CDs are fine, especially Revelator, but the live concert portion of this DVD presents this exemplary folk duo in their truest form. I highly recommend this DVD as the best possible introduction for those who aren't yet familiar with Welch and Rawlings, and as a wonderful souvenir for the faithful waiting for the next chance to see them live in concert.

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