Which doesn’t mean the record is bad: I’ll be the first to admit that Old Crow is one of my favorite bands and O.C.M.S. in particular is one of my favorite albums of this new millennium, so perhaps I’m being too hard on them.  Even when Big Iron World dropped, which itself was solid top to bottom with flashes of brilliance like “My Good Gal” and “James River Blues,” I was still less than enthused, mainly because I suffer from a strong resistance to the new coupled with a strict loyalty to what I dub an artist’s pinnacle achievement, which, in this case, is O.C.M.S.

But that’s also why I like Old Crow so much: their hardheaded instrumentation, folk tales of moonshiners and riverboat gamblers and wailing, yawping vocals that sound ripped from a Jimmie Rodgers record is a bold affront to a music industry that revels in overproduction and sample demographics.  Old Crow’s ideal demographic listens to AM and would shoot you if asked how the record made them feel.

For Tennessee Pusher, Nettwerk Records called in famed producer Don Was, who worked with Dylan and the Stones (among other greats), and has several Grammys and other independent awards that testify to his sterling reputation.  The fault of the album, though, is not that a famous producer came in and tried to rework Old Crow’s sound, though. Quite the contrary: it seems as if Was really allowed them to do what they wanted.  The pitfalls lie in several of the songs that tend to lose either the alternating jaunty cleverness or poetic sincerity that characterizes their best work.  “Alabama High Test,” the album opener, is a good song in the vein of their superb jugband covers like “Tell It To Me” or “Cocaine Habit,” and “Next Go ‘Round” touches on their country sentimentality like the aforementioned “My Good Gal” or “Trials & Troubles.”

In between these and other strong tunes, however, they fail to maintain a high level of craftsmanship.  “Humdinger,” for example, was clearly intended to provide some fast-paced, lackadaisical relief, but falls short in light of the poor phrasing and thin political jabs.  “Hotel in Memphis,” too, begins with a flourish of dark fiddle and organ and holds amazing potential, but comes off as flat and uninteresting, particularly in light of the grave subject matter (the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King); it’s not a bad song, but it could have been great, and the shortfall lends itself to distaste rather than allowance.

Overall: B

Even in light of its shortcomings, Tennessee Pusher is a good album by a great band and I enjoy listening to it.  I enjoy it even more, though, when I cut 3 or 4 tracks out.

The Old Crow Medicine Show plays music for and from the road.  Much like the traveling medicine shows of old, these five guys have literally been taking their music to the streets and street corners of towns and cities all over

North America

for the past eight years.  And to date, that winding road has been good to the Old Crow Medicine Show.  A lot has been written about how they were introduced to Doc Watson while playing on the streets of Boone, North Carolina and how that meeting led to their being booked at Merlefest, the annual Americana music festival held every April in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

From Merlefest, the road would next lead the band to Nashville and a guest appearance on the Grand Ole Opry where they received their much talked about standing ovation following their first ever performance on country music�s most revered stage.  From there it�s been record deals and nationwide tours, and along the way a great deal of buzz-worthy praise from fans, from critics, and from established country music stars like Ricky Skaggs, Merle Haggard, and Marty Stuart.  That�s the story of the road moving forward.  But the real story may lie in the road that leads backward.  That dusty road is the one from which their music finds its heart and it leads back to the real roots of country music.  With the release of Big Iron World, it appears that the Old Crow Medicine Show is trying to make sure that road is as celebrated as the one that leads to �country music� fame and fortune.

A number of Big Iron World�s twelve tracks can be traced back directly to the beginnings of jug band music that was coming out of places like

Louisville

,

Kentucky

and

Memphis

,

Tennessee

during the 1910�s up through the early 1930�s.  The band, consisting of Willie Watson on guitar, Ketch Secor on fiddle and harmonica, Kevin Hayes on guitar and guitjo, Critter Faqua on slide guitar, and Morgan Jahnig on bass, take on these songs with a respect for the traditional while adding a flair and energy that is wildly in the now.  We get to hear re-workings of songs like �Cocaine Habit� which was originally recorded in 1930 by the great Will Shade and his Memphis Jug Band and �Minglewood Blues� written by Noah Lewis and recorded by his Cannons Jug Stompers in 1928.  Not necessarily the stuff of today�s country music but in the hands of the Old Crow Medicine Show these songs sound as vibrant and new as they must have sounded in their day and the band pounds them out with the same kind of ferocity displayed on familiar cuts like �Tell It to Me� and �Hard to Tell� from the band�s debut release O.C.M.S..

In addition to the jug band numbers we also get a taste of talking blues in the form of the tune �Let It Alone�, first made popular by Chris Bouchillon in the 1920�s.  This time around for the Old Crow Medicine Show a new voice steps to the forefront as Kevin Hayes takes his first turn at lead vocals and gives it a proper old country feel that reminds me of Jimmie Rodgers singing �Big Rock Candy Mountain�.  Also included on Big Iron World is a re-working of the Woody Guthrie tune �Union Made� with Ketch Secor taking a turn on lead vocals.  And for those Old Crow fans looking for another infectious crowd favorite in the vein of the ever-popular �Wagon Wheel� then you�ll have to check out the album�s first single �Down Home Girl�.  With its harmonica and slide guitar driven groove it�s sure to be a pleaser and it should be mentioned that on �Down Home Girl� Willie Watson�s lead vocals burn brightest.  (As an added note, some discerning music fans familiar with the Rolling Stones� back catalog may remember Mick and Keith�s version of �Down Home Girl� from the 1965 release The Rolling Stones, Now!)

David Rawlings, best known as Gillian Welch�s creative partner, once again joins the fray as both a producer and contributing guitarist, and for good measure Welch herself returns as drummer on Big Iron World.  (Both played similar roles on the Old Crow�s debut release).  Rawlings also plays a major role in helping the Old Crow Medicine Show establish a voice of their own by co-writing five new songs with the band.  It�s these original pieces that really add balance and depth to the new record and establish a continuing thread from the past to the present.  The fiddle gets to stand in the spotlight on �James River Blues� and �Bobcat Tracks� and on �Don�t Ride That Horse� the band gets a chance to sing about their ups and downs during those early days of busking and moving from town to town.  But the highlight of the new songs, and quite possibly of the album is �I Hear Them All�.

In a way it�s a song for us all, it asks us to take a moment to listen to all that is going on around us, and to realize that every piece is a part of the collective song we all sing.  It�s our human song and stretches back further than Woody Guthrie or the jug band blues�it goes back to the very beginning where the road first began.  I guess in a way if we lose sight of that, the road ahead may get lost as well.  In the end, maybe music isn�t the cure all for all that ails us, but it does have the power to lift our spirits in times of need.  It�s a salve with many healing powers and the Old Crow Medicine Show seems to have plenty to go round.