A solid effort by the Leftover Salmon mandolin player
Nobody important | 06/24/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Drew Emmitt's solo work sounds, not surprisingly, a lot like Leftover Salmon. While Leftover Salmon convincingly mix, rock, country, bluegrass, cajun and a few other styles into a genre they call Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass, Emmitt's solo work on this album leans a bit more towards country and rock than the sound of the band, although there are still definite strains of bluegrass, and to a lesser degree, cajun. So, it doesn't sound quite as revolutionary as the band sounded in its heyday, but this is still a fine album of fast-tempo music that blurs genre lines. The guest musicians here are an impressive array. Stuart Duncan contributes his always-virtuosic fiddle-playing to most of the tracks, as does jam band favorite drummer, Jeff Sipe (AKA Apt. Q-258). Other notable appearances are made by newgrass progenitor Tim O'Brien (LoS has said that without Hot Rize, there would have been no LoS), Bill Nershi from String Cheese Incident, Ronnie McCoury, Darrell Scott, Reese Wynans (who played keyboards for Stevie Ray Vaughan), John Cowan (from New Grass Revival), Alison Brown, Andy Hall (Infamous Stringdusters), and a few other less-well-known players. The material here is a bit more consistently good than on Emmitt's previous solo albums, and includes some interesting covers (one from Van Morrison, and one from, yes, Supertramp, but don't let that put you off). If you like Leftover Salmon, your reaction to this album will depend on what, precisely, you like about the band. This album isn't as eclectic, but it has a similar energy, and of course, it has Drew Emmitt.
Further listening: Hot Rize, Acoustic Syndicate, Larry Keel, Blueground Undergrass, The Waybacks, New Grass Revival (and solo albums by Sam Bush), Yonder Mountain String Band, and String Cheese Incident. If you want something with a bit more of a country feel, but still rooted in bluegrass, try Brad Davis' solo albums."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1
