Brendan Foreman penned this review.
Rather than bask in the typical “vanity press” atmosphere of most solo outings, Tara Nevin — fiddler and lead vocalist of Donna the Buffalo (see our review of Rockin’ in A Weary World) — acts here instead as a gatherer and guider of an excellent ensemble of old-time and bluegrass musicians. In fact, her lead vocals don’t even show up until the third track. The result is a long jam session of superb musicianship.
Clearly, Nevins is much more comfortable with expressing herself with the fiddle than with singing. The enthusiastic, full-throttle sound of her violin-playing provides a constant drive to all of these tunes. Her fiddle really kicks ass when she lets loose on the almost primal fiddle tune “Lee Highway Blues” (here modelled after the Clarence Ashley/Doc Watson version of the tune) and the mountain song “Chilly Winds.”
The majority of the singing is left to the quite effective vocal cords of fellow Buffalo member Jim Miller. His voice has a rough-and-tumble gruffness that accentuates the wry, often sad themes of these songs. Miller goes almost totally “mountain” when he’s joined by mountain music master Ralph Stanley on such traditional songs as “Chilly Winds,” “I’ve Got a Mule to Ride,” and “Pig in a Pen.” On other songs such as the classic Jacobs/Carter blues song “Sittin’ On Top of the World,” he achieves a far more melodic country sound.
Other members of the variable cast of this CD are Christine Balfa on rhythm guitar, Dirk Powell on bass guitar, David Castle on acoustic guitar, Eddie Trent on slide guitar, among many more.
The music that Nevins has selected here tends mostly to revolve around the traditional old-time repertoire such as “Sittin’ on Top of the World,” the murder ballad “Darling Corey,” and fiddle jams like “Lee Highway Blues” and “Lost John.” Sometimes, she reaches towards the more streamlined bluegrass style as in the Flatt and Scruggs song “Down the Road,” and at other times she strays towards honky-tonk as in “Rocky Island.”
However, in her arrangement for “Troubles,” Nevins’ beautiful lead vocals are backed up strikingly by the traditional Hopi, Tewa, and Choctaw Native American singing styles by Moontee Sinqua. On this song, they are also joined by New Lost City Ramblers member Mike Seeger on autoharp.
There are also a number of Nevins originals. The gospel-like ode to a dead friend “Over My Shoulder” may wander towards over-preciousness, but it’s still a cut above most “Jesus songs” that bluegrass artists seem to insist on putting on each of their albums. Other Nevins songs “This Time” and “Daddy Said So” tend to be more standard (and slightly more bland) country songs. However, as a saving grace, the CD ends with a Nevins-penned feet-stomping, high-octane fiddle tune “3 Wheel Drive.”
Tara Nevins has contributed a gigantic CD (20 tracks, 66 minutes of music) that will make a fine addition to anyone’s old-time and bluegrass library.
(Sugar Hill, 1999)
