Chatham County Line Reviewed
Chatham County Line
Speed Of The Whippoorwill
(Yep Roc)
Weathering a torrent of modern bluegrass releases, Chatham County Line draw on a folksier inspiration for their third album.
Not that it’s completely off base, but the first third of Speed Of The Whippoorwill keys on Bob Dylan’s post-motorcycle wreck phase in its country leaning, and it has little to do with the slight sneer in John Teer’s vocal. Produced by ex dB Chris Stamey (Whiskeytown, Caitlan Cary), touches of pedal steel break the bluegrass rules in favor of a trad-country drenched in West Coast harmony (“Confederate Soldier,” “All The Ladies In The Town”). The ’40s surge through “Come Back To Me” and “By The Riverside,” yet the lasting impression is the Nashville Skyline, outside-looking-in demeanor of “Company Blues” and “Rock Pile” giving Whippoorwill its personality.
— Kevin Keegan
Appearing: July 1st at the Country Music Festival in Grant Park and July 2nd at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn.
