Last night I saw King Wilkie on their mini-tour in support of their new CD Low Country Suite. They've just moved to Rounder Records from Rebel, and seem to be taking the ambitious move as a time to reach out beyond the bounds of bluegrass into country-tinged pop balladry.
I've seen this done before, and I've never seen it work. I'm reminded of Salamander Crossing who were a promising bluegrass band who put out an album of Gram Parsons influenced country rock called Bottleneck Dreams and promptly died.
"So," you are probably asking, "Are King Wilkie, one of the finest young bluegrass outfits in the country (if not the world) about to die the death of the inconsistent?" Well, bluegrass fans do like their bluegrass pure, and boy, is the new material I heard last night outside the box. But some of the songs were extremely pretty (as are them boys), and they're fine musicians, and their front man has some charisma. But what's the market for bluegrass bands that don't play bluegrass? I liked most of what I heard last night, but I was really longing for some uptempo material by the end of the night.
I think they're in for an uphill slog.
No comments:
Post a Comment