Gillian Welch | The Harrow & the Harvest
Last week I spent Sunday morning easing into the day with Justin Townes Earle. This week is the soulful Appalachian folk of Gillian Welch. I know she is pretty well-known so I won’t go all crazy doing a rundown of her career, but it you haven’t listened to her in awhile, or never have, there is no better time than now. Her 2011 album The Harrow & the Harvest is collection of ten beautiful, heartfelt, mostly soft folk songs that are the perfect background to making pancakes.
The first few songs are a little on the easy listening side but again, who wants to wake up to something loud aggressive? Don’t tell me your still using that vile alarm clock every morning?! You’re insane. You should relax. Try listening to the first track “Scarlett Town” and tell me you’re not more ready to face the day without carrying a weapon. There is a lot of stress out there. We’re all had a long, miserable winter. But things are turning around. We will enjoy the sun again soon. And acoustic folk easy listening tracks apparently. Breathe them in slowly. When you’re done with that check out “That’s the Way That It Goes” for a slightly more uptempo western song featuring some pretty sweet picking.
The Harrow & the Harvest as a whole is a pretty cohesive sounding album. It’s a folk album with touches of country and bluegrass. And it is a pretty no-frills recording with most of the sound coming from her strong voice with sparse backing vocals from collaborator David Rawlings and their acoustic guitars. Songs like “Tennessee”, “Down Along the Dixie Line”, “Silver Dagger”, and “The Way the Whole Thing Ends” might not stand out on their own but blend together well to form the backbone of these songs. “Six White Horses” is somewhat of a standout track with it’s harmonica and vocal harmonies but I prefer to listen to them all straight through for the 45 minutes or so during mixing batter and guzzling maple syrup. I’ve heard the ideal setting for listening is driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains at sunrise. You may not be taking that road trip anytime soon but don’t let that get in your way of enjoying these songs just sitting around on your couch on a lazy Sunday like this.
The Drink: Orange Juice. If you put anything else is that juice I will not judge you.
Bake
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