It is always great to have a new Fred Eaglesmith Cd in your hand because you never know what he will do next.
Well, judging by his latest effort “6 Volts,” he has gone back to his alt-country roots.
The special edition, limited run CD, which I picked up at the South Country Fair, is handcrafted out of scrapbooking materials, and cardboard plus old style photographs of the band.
He has a full band behind him including new mandolin player Mike Zinger.
This is a treat as while you can never replace Willie P Bennet’s wild mandolin playing, Bennett also supplied distinctive background vocals/ shouts, which are back on 6 Volts.
The songs themselves really grow on you, beginning with the upbeat “Cemetary Road,” which is reminiscent of the gospel sound he was into a couple years ago. But there are plenty of stories of the down and the downtrodden about cheating wives, truckers on amphetamines, singers, crazy women and country music.
Some of the highlights include the killer murder ballad “Katie.”
One of the best is “Johnny Cash,” which takes not so subtle aim at fairweather Johnny Cash fans who listened to him now rather than back then when “Johnny’s shows weren’t selling” and asks “where were you in ’89 when it looked like Johnny’s career was in decline … back when you were listening to heavy metal,” as Eaglesmith moans.
His voice is road weathered and whiskey soaked and mournful.
The music is pure emotion with hurting steel guitar and tortured guitar solos on “Johnny Cash.”
I also really like “Stars,” on which Eaglesmith reflects on his career on the road, crooning “We played like we were stars… Willie played mandolin and we thought it would never end.”
CD: 6 Volts
Artist: Fred Eaglesmith
Genre: country/ roots
Record Label: Sweetwater Music/ A Major label
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