All right! A new Chieftains CD! Just what the doctor ordered. Down The Old Plank Road is subtitled the Nashville Sessions and just like their earlier album Another Country, this one seeks to track the Irish influence in American country music. Where ten years ago they welcomed guests like Willie Nelson, Chet Atkins and Don Williams, 2002 sees Paddy and the fellas playing host to John Hiatt, Buddy & Julie Miller and Alison Kraus. It's a new generation.
The album begins with a sweep of Derek Bell's harp. It's a moving moment, just that simple sweep, marking his passing this past year. But the music immediately lifts the listener's spirits with that high lonesome sound of Bela Fleck's banjo, Jeff White, Tim O'Brien and John Hiatt all playing on the title track. Maybe it's not a classic Chieftains' sound; but they are probably the most versatile band in the world today, able to play equally well with these country musicians, as with the Rolling Stones, Sinead O'Connor, Joni Mitchell -- all guests from previous albums. And through it all, they still sound like the Chieftains! Buddy and Julie Miller take the forefront for "Country Blues" sounding like a lost Dock Boggs tune.
This music is wonderful and strange. The pipes, the harp, the bodhran, mix with a little guitar and those down-homey voices to create an image of what it must have sounded like back a century and a half as Irish immigrants brought these simple yet exotic sounds across the water. Intricate string exercises, Paddy Maloney's tin whistle flitting in and out, with Bela Fleck's banjo or Ricky Skaggs, or Earl Scruggs, or David Rawlings' archtop guitar. Vocals, marvelous and haunting, are provided by Alison Kraus ("Molly Ban"), Lyle Lovett ("Don't Let Your Deal Go Down"), Patty Griffin ("Whole Heap of Little Horses") or Del McCoury ("Rain & Snow"). Each guest adds his or her stamp on top of the Chieftains unifying foundation. How do Paddy Maloney and his crew understand these songs from all four corners of the world? Whether in Spain, Cuba, China, Nova Scotia, or in the good old U.S. of A. there they are, playing like they are natives.
Down The Old Plank Road didn't grab me immediately. And two people I shared it with felt the same way. My wife found it in the car CD player, and said, "What IS that music you have in there?" Record producer Wayne Marshall just shook his head when I noted the fact that he had bought this album. There's perhaps a bit too much twang in the voices, a little too much stuff that came down from the mountain, but oh brother, give it another listen!
The interplay between the Nashville cats and the Irish gents is subtle and invigorating. It's like pieces from two separate puzzles which magically fit together seamlessly to create a new image. The addition of the Chieftains to that of Gillian Welch is a stroke of genius. Or is it the addition of Gillian Welch to the Chieftains? That's the point! Once you've heard this music in context, and given it a chance to grow and blossom, it's a beautiful thing.
Take a trip Down The Old Plank Road. It's a road between the green grass of home and the blue grass of Kentucky, a well worn path that's worth another look.
