David Rawlings Machine - "A Friend Of A Friend"
RATING: 87/100
If you're a casual Americana fan you might not know David Rawlings by name, but you've surely heard his signature guitar and songwriting work over dozens of albums in the last decade and a half. Though he has worked extensively with Ryan Adams, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Bright Eyes, Rawlings' most notable partnership has been with Gillian Welch. Rawlings and Welch actually met while studying at the Berklee College of Music in the early 90's and have been playing, writing and recording together since. Up until this point though, every album they released was under Welch's name and featured her on lead vocals with Rawlings on harmony. On A Friend Of A Friend these roles are reversed for nine tracks that highlight Rawlings' skill as a songwriter, but this album really isn't about an individual.
With him on every song is Gillian Welch, offering beautiful harmonies that lay nicely against Rawlings' expressive tone. In addition to the Rawlings/Welch originals that make up most of this album, Rawlings picks out a couple other gems that he has co-writing credits on: "To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)" written with Ryan Adams, and "I Hear Them All" written with Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show, a hot young bluegrass band that serves as the backing band for most of this album. Also included is a medley of two cover songs: "Method Acting" (by Conor Oberst) and "Cortez The Killer" (by Neil Young).
Most stunning about this album is Rawlings' phrasing, both vocally and instrumentally. He has a style that is all his own, a combination of old time feel with strains of dissonance that filter in and out organically. No matter whose name is on the cover David Rawlings and Gillian Welch are one of the most powerful teams in roots music today, and while A Friend Of A Friend is not their most outstanding effort so far (I'll reserve that spot for Hell Among The Yearlings), it certainly ranks very high up with the rest of their collection.
If you're a casual Americana fan you might not know David Rawlings by name, but you've surely heard his signature guitar and songwriting work over dozens of albums in the last decade and a half. Though he has worked extensively with Ryan Adams, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Bright Eyes, Rawlings' most notable partnership has been with Gillian Welch. Rawlings and Welch actually met while studying at the Berklee College of Music in the early 90's and have been playing, writing and recording together since. Up until this point though, every album they released was under Welch's name and featured her on lead vocals with Rawlings on harmony. On A Friend Of A Friend these roles are reversed for nine tracks that highlight Rawlings' skill as a songwriter, but this album really isn't about an individual.
With him on every song is Gillian Welch, offering beautiful harmonies that lay nicely against Rawlings' expressive tone. In addition to the Rawlings/Welch originals that make up most of this album, Rawlings picks out a couple other gems that he has co-writing credits on: "To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)" written with Ryan Adams, and "I Hear Them All" written with Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show, a hot young bluegrass band that serves as the backing band for most of this album. Also included is a medley of two cover songs: "Method Acting" (by Conor Oberst) and "Cortez The Killer" (by Neil Young).
Most stunning about this album is Rawlings' phrasing, both vocally and instrumentally. He has a style that is all his own, a combination of old time feel with strains of dissonance that filter in and out organically. No matter whose name is on the cover David Rawlings and Gillian Welch are one of the most powerful teams in roots music today, and while A Friend Of A Friend is not their most outstanding effort so far (I'll reserve that spot for Hell Among The Yearlings), it certainly ranks very high up with the rest of their collection.