As I was giving Wes Corbett’s Drift a listen on my headphones — at the gym, as it happens — I thought the fiddler sounded familiar on one decidedly Celtic sounding track. Was that Brittany Haas? That track turns out to be “The Tide Pool Jigs,” featuring Brittany and her Hawktail bandmate bassist Paul Kowert among those backing banjo player extraordinaire Corbett.
“The Tide Pool Jigs” is probably the least bluegrass oriented track on this, the second solo album from this rising superstar of the Nashville bluegrass scene, but it’s a major piece of what makes this album so good, and that is Corbett’s mastery of many of the ways in which a banjo can be played. The track starts with a mysterious, foreboding slow tune in jig time with Corbett, Haas and Kowert (playing arco) all swapping the lead and comps, then transitions seamlessly into one, then another more upbeat jigs that find Haas and Corbett playing the decidedly Irish tune in delicious unison. Bryan Sutton gets in a nice newgrass style guitar break, too.
And that’s just one of 10 tracks on this outstanding acoustic Americana / bluegrass record. And only a small portion of the cast he was able to assemble from the Nashville greats to help him make it. Corbett is currently a member of Sam Bush’s band, so of course Bush turns up a time or two with his mandolin: on the dramatic slow ballad “Eagle Harbor” and in force on the tuneful newgrass style closing track “Crane Island” where he turns in a solid solo as Corbett swaps licks with fiddler Darol Anger.
For bluegrass pyrotechnics, look no further than the opener “Case Of The Mundes” where the reigning queen of Nashville mandolinists Sierra Hull goes toe to toe with guitarists Bryan Sutton, Dobro picker Justin Moses, and fiddler Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, before Corbett steps in and really kicks it into high gear. Corbett immediately swings for the fences again on the next number “Salmon Run” backed by nearly the same crew, plus Jason Carter matching fiddle licks with Keith-Hynes, and Casey Campbell supplanting Hull on mando. Farther on in the set, “Riptide” is another ripping bluegrass romp; and I’d be remiss not to mention the great Nashville bassist Mike Bub on both this one and “Mundes.”
But the real star here is Wes Corbett, and nowhere is that more apparent than the delightful oldtime tune “Hartford’s Bend on the Cumberland,” a tribute to the great John Hartford. Corbett plays this one on a quirky banjo borrowed from Béla Fleck that used to belong to Hartford; it has a sound all its own, partly due to the levers in the headstock that can be used to drop a string’s tuning by a full step.
Fans of acoustic Americana, bluegrass, newgrass … don’t miss this one. Drift is a bold statement by a world class talent, supported by his friends, mentors and peers. And it’s a lot of fun to listen to.
(Adhyâropa Records, 2025)
