This third release by Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch and Fats Kaplin is yet another musically deep production from three seasoned performers.  Featuring new songs from Kane and Welch along with empathic support from multi-instrumentalist Kaplin (electric sitar, accordian, fiddle, steel guitar, electric and acoustic guitar), this disc is filled with sweet melodies and thoughtful lyrics.  And Kane�s haunting banjo permeates the disc as well, lending another interesting voice, especially when paired with Kaplin�s steel guitar on �Red Light Blinking� and electric sitar on �Highland Mary.�
This is between�the�cracks music; it isn�t just country or bluegrass or folk or blues, it�s all of the above and more.  The music, like the three musicians making the music, adds up to far more than the sum of its parts.  Kind of like the Elgin sausage sandwich with pickles in the buttered and toasted just-right bun I had at Hoover�s in Austin.  Both cd and sandwich are highly recommended.

Kevin Welch persuaded Fats Kaplin to move to Nashville to join his band, the Overtones, which also included Kane, Mike Henderson, Harry Stinson and Glenn Worf in 1992.  After arriving in Nashville, Kaplin became a sought after multi-instrumentalist playing on albums by Waylon Jennings, Kelly Willis, Pure Prairie League, Mark Knopfler and Buddy Miller, to name just a few.In 1995, Welch, along with Kieran Kane, Tammy Rogers and Harry Stinson, formed Dead Reckoning Records where the artists would record solo albums.  Kane, Welch and Kaplin released their first collaborative effort, You Can’t Save Everybody, in 2004. The second release from the troika is titled Lost John Dean.  “Lost John Dean” is a traditional that tells the story of an African-American worker in Western Kentucky who, after robbing a bank, eludes the posse on his trail.  Possibly the earliest recorded version of this is the 1928 Bascom Lamar Lunsford version to which this recent take doesn’t stray too far.  Bascom Lamar Lunsford was a folk musician who in 1928 organized the first folk music festival in Asheville, NC and was mainly known for recording songs for the Library of Congress in main part to preserve them for generations to come.Similarly we come to this release.  Although only two of the tracks of Lost John Dean are covers, (the title track and Willie Dixon’s “Mellow Down Easy”) the presentation is an updating of the same type of folk music that runs strong risk of extinction if not preserved in some fashion.  Along these lines albums such as this and Bruce Springsteen’s latest release act as hopefully more than just entertainment, but also as catalysts for a younger generation to dig deeper into the rich history of music that comes before them. “Monkey Jump” kicks it off showcasing the stripped down sound that characterizes the disc with Kieran on banjo and vocals, Kevin on guitar and Fats on fiddle and accordion.  The songs, even though most are of recent writing glisten with a spirit of the traditional songs that they fall in line with.“Satan’s Paradise” and “Heaven Now,” both co-written by Welch, speak of redemption and the longing for something more: “I know my days are Heaven sent/Lord knows I know not where they went/Shake my head and I wonder how/I’ll ever get to Heaven now” (from “Heaven Now”)“Postcard From Mexico” is my favorite on the record.  Over an entrancing guitar riff providing a foundational groove, Kieran and Kevin trade vocal lines over said guitar, tambourine, and lone drum.  The subject matter, (boy-meets-girl, they-rob-liquor-store, boy-takes-rap) might be a nearly overplayed story, but the arrangement gives it new life here.“To the Harvest Look Ahead” and I Can’t Wait” return again to the theme of trying to see more than just what little piece of earth lays ahead of us.  It’s easy for us to forget in the day to day the hope we all once carried, but, as stated in “To the Harvest Look Ahead:”So much rain must fallFor our daily breadThrough it allTo the harvest look aheadThese recurring themes of redemption, hope and longing run circularly through the album and the sparse instrumentation help to push the lyrical message forward.  The songs speak to the spirit of those that have laid a path for the mountain-folk style these three work to preserve.