Welch and Rawlings

I am notoriously slow to discover music I like, especially if the music has become popular. That is...I'm so wary of fads that if some artist starts creating a buzz, I'm immediately uninterested. Once my skepticism wears off a little and the buzz dies down, then I get around to checking out what all the fuss was about. So, you'll please excuse me if I'm just now getting around to listening to Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.

I was browsing through the used bin at Music Millennium on Burnside the other day and came upon Time (The Revelator). I bought it on the strength of the Title and the look on her face alone - plus it was only 8 bucks. She looked familiar to me - something about her chic-gaunt-haunted-flowery-dress look reminded me of women I often saw when I was a boy growing up in Appalachia. Well OK, she does seem a little well-scrubbed, but I was still surprised to find out she's from LA and not some "holler" back home.

From the opening notes of the title song I was captivated. I love following Rawling's F-hole guitar around all the twists and turns he takes while Welch lays down a subtle, piercing, and just a little lazy, melody. David Rawlings provides a "barely-contained" understated accompaniment to what would otherwise be pretty standard mountain music. Well...except for her lyrics. I'm not always sure what she's getting at - but it is convincing nonetheless. I wouldn't be all that interested to hear either her or David Rawlings by themselves...I think I'd be bored with it in short order. But together, they are the definition of synergy. Very organic but very little tye-dye. I'll be keeping this one.

P.S. Here's a nice interview in the New Yorker with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings: The Ghostly Ones