ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
November 15, 2020
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
I wouldn't have the word country in the byline if the genre didn't speak to me at some level. But it's just one element in what I do, one that's typically hybridized, spun and blended until it's something less than trad. There are several other bloggers who focus on a more pure expression of country, and I leave it to them to know their stuff. But I love the shared mythology that pervades the genre, stories that are rooted in a strain of America to which many strongly adhere - whiskey and heartbreak, family inheritance and deep roots in small towns.
Ward Davis covers all those bases and more on his second full-length project, Black Cats & Crows (Nov 20). The collection comes in the wake of his 2015 debut, the promising 15 Years in a 10 Year Town, followed in 2018 by his Asunder EP that he introduced bluntly: I wrote some songs while I was going through some shit. Also listened to a lot of Tom Petty. It's a typical understatement from an artist who has penned songs for folks like Cody Jinks, Whitey Morgan, Trace Atkins and Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson.
Ward Davis divides his songwriting time between the guitar and piano, and on his second full-length a fairly neat line can be drawn between guitar-driven rockers and piano-based ballads. Black Cats jump starts with the rip of an electric guitar on "Ain't Gonna Be Today", a riff that might just as easily have flown off a 1970s Ritchie Blackmore project. Later in the record, Anthrax's Scott Ian guests on "Sounds of Chains", a brutal confession from a death row killer haunted by his past.
More often than that, Ward Davis tones down the shredding to focus on a dark strain of country that falls on a spectrum between his friend Cody Jinks and White Buffalo. With producer Jim 'Moose' Brown, he constructs arrangements that emphasize the drama and the depth of feeling in these new songs. God must have it in for me, he bemoans on the piano-based title cut, cowritten with Jinks and Tennessee Jet. The gloom, despair and agony are couched in piano that crescendos into a dustblown guitar solo and crashing waves of drums. "Get To Work Whiskey" walks more familiar country paths, as the narrator turns to drink to drown his marital woes: I don't wanna send you packin' / But I'll crack the seal on ol' Jose / Let's not let it come to that, fuck me up what you say Jack.
Even with the expansive arrangements and the overcast outlook, Black Cats & Crows is securely rooted in Davis' knowledge of and love for country, especially as it's been expressed in the outlaw tradition. There are some beautiful and heartfelt songs on these sessions. With its piano complimented by an expressive fiddle, "Threads" is a moving portrait of last-straw desperation: I hold myself together / Just to see how much I can take. There's an earnest gratitude on "Heaven Had a Hand", and a chorus that should've ushered the song onto country radio. God must've looked down on me, Davis sings, And saw that I needed you. While he's not as bombastic or soulful a vocalist as Chris Stapleton, Ward Davis invests these lyrics with such sentiment. A song initially released by Cody Jinks, "Colorado" is a simple ballad worthy of Townes Van Zandt or Guy Clark. With its beautiful fiddle accompaniment, Davis' take is a highlight of the music year.
Much of this new collection follows in the tradition of Davis' earlier Asunder EP, dwelling upon the the dissolution of relationships and an abiding resentment. The narrator on "Lady Down On Love" comes clean: Both of us got lonely / I gave into lust. On the fiery "Book of Matches" he builds a pyre fueled by letters and sweaters and pictures of you. But there are moments that point away from that turmoil, songs that speak well to Ward Davis' artistic range. "Where I Learned to Live" takes its place in the line of classic odes to our small towns. Everything I love's within half a mile of this, he sings. He might just be the sort of songwriter who meets his muse more commonly in misery. But even in his darkest moments, there is a welcome purity and conviction in Ward Davis' work. Listeners will be willing to follow him into the fire.
- Margo Price, "Wild Women (feat. Emmylou Harris) (live)" Perfectly Imperfect at the Ryman (Loma Vista, 20) D
^ Ward Davis, "Black Cats & Crows" Black Cats & Crows (Davis, Nov 20)
- Becky Warren, "Favorite Bad Penny" The Sick Season (Warren, 20)
- Chris Stapleton, "Hillbilly Blood" Starting Over (Mercury, 20)
- Glossary, "Some Eternal Spark" Long Live All of Us (Young Buffalo, 11)
- Brit Taylor, "Wagon" Real Me (Cut a Shine, Nov 20) D
- Paul Thorn, "It's Never Too Late to Call" single (Perpetual Obscurity, 20) D
- Valerie June, "Stay" single (Concord, 20) D
- JD McPherson, "A Little Respect" single (New West, 17)
- Low Cut Connie, "Private Lives" Private Lives (Contender, 20)
- David Nance, "Black Mustang" Staunch Honey (Trouble in Mind, 20) D
- Lambchop, "Where the Grass Won't Grow" TRIP (Merge, 20)
- Spencer Cullum, "To Be Blinkered" Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection (Human Error, 20) D
- Go To Blazes, "Got it Made" And Other Crimes (Bohemian Neglect, 16)
- Frank Turner & Jon Snodgrass, "Still Buddies" Buddies II: Still Buddies (Xtra Mile, 20)
- Reckless Kelly, "Fightin' For" The Years: MusicFest Tribute to Cody Canada (Right Ave, Jan 8) D
- Molly Parden, "Kitchen Table" Rosemary EP (Tone Tree, 20)
- Lee Bains III & Glory Fires, "Dirt Track (acoustic)" 2-4-6-8 Motorway EP (Don Giovanni, 20)
- Jayhawks, "Got Your Message" Closer to Heaven: Tribute to Ed Ackerson (Ackerson, 20) D
- John Calvin Abney, "Showing Up Late" Familiar Ground (Black Mesa, 20)
- Leif Vollebekk, "Long Blue Light" single (Secret City, 20) D
- Gillian Welch, "City Girl" Boots No 2: Lost Songs Vol 3 (Acony, 20)
- Pearl Charles, "Imposter" Magic Mirror (Kanine, Jan 15)
- Tim Barry, "Driver Pull (live)" Live 2018 (Chunksaah, 20) D
- Dave Hause, "Top of the World (feat. Bartees Strange)" Patty EP (Soundly, 20)
- Dave Alvin, "Inside" From an Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased (Yep Roc, Nov 20)
- Sturgill Simpson, "Turtles All the Way Down" Cuttin' Grass Vol 1: Butcher Shoppe Sessions (High Top Mt, 20)
- Kelsey Waldon, "Sam Stone" They'll Never Keep Us Down EP (Oh Boy, Nov 20)
- Pony Bradshaw, "Calico Jim" Less Glamor More Nutrients (Black Mt, Jan 29) D
- Wilco, "Hesitating Beauty (Live at Boulder Theater)" Summerteeth (Deluxe Edition) (Rhino, 20)
While this is the time of year when the industry goes into hibernation from announcing new projects, I was able to add a handful of promising things this week to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster. What kind of holiday record should we expect from Murder By Death? Well, we'll find out when the band releases Lonesome Holiday on December 1 (Tentshow). A couple promising tribute records have appeared on the horizon. Sing Me Back Home: Music of Merle Haggard presents stuff from a 2017 live celebration. The double-CD boasts contributions from Miranda Lambert, Kasey Musgraves, Avett Brothers and more (Blackbird, December 11). You'll also want to keep your eyes open for The Years: a MusicFest Tribute to Cody Canada, due via Right Ave on January 8. That double-CD features tributes from Reckless Kelly, Jamie Lin Wilson, BJ Barham and others. Pony Bradshaw has announced a follow-up to his 2019 Rounder debut. Less Glamor More Nutrients is set for release on January 29 via Black Mountain. Finally, I've been a fan of the two records released by Mando Saenz. His first full-length since 2013 is planned for a February 26 unveiling. All My Shame arrives courtesy of Carnival Records.
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