Old Crow Medicine Show (from the album Jubilee

Old Crow Medicine Show (from the album Jubilee

Old Crow Medicine Show (from the album Jubilee available on ATO Records) (by Brian Rock)
Old Crow Medicine Show celebrates 25 years of making extraordinary, Grammy winning Roots music on their eighth album Jubilee. The title is apt as the album feels like a celebration. Musically and lyrically, Jubilee exudes joy. Old Crow Medicine Show (OCMS) delight in exploring the simple pleasures of life, love, and corn liquor.
“Ballad of Jubilee Jones” opens the set with Oak Ridge Boys-inspired vocal harmonies and rollicking Bluegrass rhythms. Saluting the power of music to acknowledge and ease the struggles of working-class men and women, frontman Ketch Secor sings ‘if you got the soul, let it roll. If you got the time, let it shine. If you got the dream, set it free. Just like Jubilee’. Harmonica, fiddle, banjo and piano echo Secor’s words as they urge us to sing along and lose our cares in song.
“Keel Over and Die” incorporates amped up Celtic rhythms to celebrate a love so strong that it is truly ‘to die for’. Turning the dial up to eleven on “I Want It Now” OCMS celebrate ‘getting freaky deaky in the Kentucky moonlight’ with fiery fiddle and Jerry Lee Lewis style piano licks.  Running faster than an out-of-control freight train on a steep downhill grade, the song makes you feel as good as the mountain moonshine they’re singing about. Sierra Ferrell joins the band on the frenetic square dance rhythms of “Belle Meade Cockfight.” Contemplating the unique pleasures that can only be experienced in New Orleans, OCMS adds a touch of Ragtime to “Shit Kicked In”. When the Congo Square hoodoo finally kicks in, it finds the band ‘seeing stars and a fleur-de-lis, jaybird naked in a live oak tree’. Veering off the beaten path to find subjects to champion, the band turns to regional cryptic-mythology to honor the Ozark Howler on “Wolfman of the Ozarks”. Sure to be a dance hall favorite this Halloween, the song is all treat, no trick. All of these songs showcase OCMS’s high energy take on traditional string band music. Taking Bluegrass from the hallowed halls of museums and libraries, Old Crow Medicine Show pours kerosene (or more likely corn liquor,) on it, sets it on fire, and - like a Phoenix rising from the ashes; creates a new, more vibrant incarnation of the original. In short, Old Crow Medicine show is simply the best string band around, and this album finds them in peak form.
Even when they slow the pace, OCMS still finds a way to breathe a joyful optimism into their ballads. “Miles Away” reunites the band with founding member Willie Watson as they sing about reconnecting with a friend after ‘just down the road turned to miles away’. Graceful violin strands add a touch of elegance as the friends sing ‘don’t let the past hold the reins. Take the chance to say I love you’. Touching and timeless, the song reminds us of the importance of friendship and the power of forgiveness. “Nameless, TN” is a gentle, banjo driven homage to small town America. “Daughter of the Highlands” employs lilting Celtic rhythms to celebrate a love that is stronger than death. Even in the midst of heartbreak, the band still finds cause for joy in the beauty of their surroundings in the traditional Bluegrass of “Smoky Mountain Girl”. Returning to the Oak Ridge Boys style of vocal harmonies, OCMS invites Gospel legend Mavis Staples to join them on “One Drop”. With an inspirational organ-tinged Country Gospel rhythm, they remind us of the cumulative power of tiny drops of water. One drop may not have much effect; but keep adding them one at a time and soon ‘we turn still waters to rolling waves’. A beautiful anthem for doing good, it reminds us that small actions can have a large ripple effect. Whatever tempo or topic they choose, Old Crow Medicine Show can’t help but put a smile on your face. That small act may not change the world, but if enough people follow their lead and share a smile; it will make the world more bearable.  (by Brian Rock)
Listen and buy the music of Old Crow Medicine Show from AMAZON
Please visit the Old Crow Medicine Show website for more information