Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesborro Blues,” and the CDB pay tribute to all of their fellow South- ern Rock bands with their own “The South’s Gonna Do it Again,” “Birmingham Blues,” and of course, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” as well as hot covers of ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man,” as well as live versions of The Allman’s “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird.” Did I say it was a Southern Rock party? The set closes out with a live cut from the
1981 Volunteer Jam featuring the late Tommy Crain burning up the Les Paul on Toy Cald- well’s “Can’t You See.” That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Charlie dedicates the album to the memory of
his fallen band mates Tommy Crain and Taz Di- Gregorio, which is more than fitting. It’s an out- standing compilation and one that every true Southern Rocker will want to own.
- Michael Buffalo Smith
Kathy Mattea Calling Me Home (Sugar Hill Records) Singer and songwriter Kathy Mattea grew up
in Cross Lanes, West Virginia. She had the typi- cal Mountain State family history, as both of her grandfathers were coal miners. After gradu- ating from high school, Mattea had every inten- tion of getting a college degree, but an opportunity presented itself that would change the course of her life. While attending West Virginia University,
Mattea and her musical friends recorded some demos and sent them out to a few record com- panies. All they got back was the usual form let- ters rejecting the songs. However, on two of the letters were some hand-written notes praising the singer of the group. Mattea took that recog- nition and ran with it, moving to Nashville and giving herself five years to make it. Mattea found success in the 1980s and 90s, recording many Country music hits that
climbed the charts. But, the music business is fickle, and after a good run of successful and high-profile years, she turned towards more Americana and World Music fare, eventually adding Celtic music to her repertoire. Finally, Mattea, who was inducted into the
West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2011, turned her attention back to her home state and in 2008 released the well-received album “Coal.” The project not only reflected her fam- ily’s heritage, it garnered a Grammy nomina- tion. Now, Mattea has followed that up with a won-
derful new album called “Calling Me Home.” Continuing along the path set forth by the “Coal” album, this set of music also stays true to her roots. There are songs here written by ac- claimed songwriters such as Si Kahn, Laurie Lewis and Larry Cordle. Three of the tunes were written by Alice Gerrard including the title cut and “Now Is The Cool of the Day.” West Vir- ginia Music Hall of Fame inductee Hazel Dick- ens, who died in 2011, wrote the Mountain State classic, “West Virginia, My Home,” and there are three Jean Ritchie-penned cuts show- cased including “Black Waters” and “West Vir- ginia Mine Disaster.” While the music on this album isn’t Bluegrass
per se, Mattea brought many great Bluegrass musicians into the studio to give this recording and sweet and down-to-Earth groove. Featured on “Calling Me Home” are instrumentalists Bryan Sutton, Stuart Duncan, Jim Brock, Byron House, Bill Cooley, Tim Laur, Randy Kohrs and John Randall Stewart. But, what really gives this album a sweet
sound is the harmony vocals, provided by a who’s who of the roots music world. Backing up Mattea’s wonderful lead vocals are Alison Krauss, Tim O’Brien, Emmylou Harris, Tim Eriksen, Patty Loveless, Sarah Dugas, Aoife O’- Donovan, Oliver Wood and Mollie O’Brien.
- Derek Halsey 39
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