Search - Eric Uglum/Christian Ward/Austin Ward :: The Old Road to Jerusalem

Another winner in the "tone, timing and taste" department

J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 02/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Playing Time - 42:21 -- Eric Uglum's solo debut release, Shenandoah Wind, turned heads and made a significant mark back in 2004. Now, while Eric Uglum is guitarist, mandolinist and lead vocalist on this latest album, the project is really a collaborative ensemble endeavor. It's a recording debut for his two teenaged stepsons (Christian and Austin Ward) who perform as fiddler and bassist with Chris Stuart & Backcountry. Eric also recently joined that group (replacing Mason Tuttle). Chris Stuart sings harmony on five tracks, and others assisting include Ron Block, Janet Beazley, Bud Bierhaus, Roger Gillespie and Edwin Uglum (Eric and Stacey's youngest son). While standard bluegrass instrumentation is used, the banjo and mandolin only make occasional appearances. The set also has flavorings of pennywhistles, drums, percussion, and even a tad of finger cymbals, viola and electric bass. Block and Uglum have been friends for many years and go back to their bands of the early-1980s, Weary Hearts and New Wine. Bierhaus can trace his musical collaboration with Uglum back to the fine band, Copperline.



Adding to their creative Americana muse, there's an interesting choice of not-so-standard material, much from others with California connections. An uptempo "Paper Heart" opens the CD with some fire and fury, and that song comes from singer/songwriter Patrick Brayer, who "grew up in slow motion on an egg ranch just off of route 66 in the desert town of Fontana, Ca." Oden Fong's "Sidney the Pirate" is a folk ballad that imparts spiritual revelation in a song written by a pastor in Huntington Beach who had been a member of Mustard Seed Faith back in the 70s. Chris Stuart has been highly praised as an award-winning songwriter, and his two contributions ("The Old Road to Jerusalem" and "First Train Robbery") certainly don't disappoint. The former has excellent lyrics and fine presentation, while the latter is based on an actual historical event that occurred in 1866 when the masked Reno Brothers boarded an east bound Ohio & Mississippi passenger train near Seymour, Indiana and robbed the safes. Byron Berline's "Sweet Memory Waltz" is a pleasant offering with twin fiddles and some phrasing that reminds me of "The Waltz You Saved For Me." Taking on classic jazz tunes ("Undecided"), favorite gospel ("Life's Railway to Heaven"), traditional ("Old Blue," "Pretty Little Miss") and popular melodies ("Edelweiss") are also in the musicians' bag of eclecticism. Christian Ward wrote the fiddle tune entitled "Stonewall," and the group's cover of a hit for Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt ("Love Has No Pride") is imparted with a relaxed folk aura embellished by Uglum's smooth baritone vocals.



Besides being well grounded as a musician, Eric Uglum started recording projects at his New Wine Studio in 1997. In the arid high desert of Hesperia, Ca. (between San Diego and Las Vegas), Eric, Christian and Austin have another winner in the "tone, timing and taste" department. With plenty of mood from traditional to contemporary, and Celtic to California, "The Old Road to Jerusalem" offers a musical elixir with an intoxicating effect. Yet another milestone from a well-established California musician and his family, Uglum and company's musical fermentation is effervescent, largely due to their emphasis on both new and older acoustic spirits. This sparkling 2007 album is of a very good vintage....with music not too dry or sweet, heavy or light. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

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