Traditions run deep on this third album from the duo that makes old-time American music come alive in the here and now as few others can.
Morrison and West tapped into more than a musical wellspring when they got together, though: from the start they've sung and played like family and the relationship keeps getting stronger, the mutual understanding clearer and the music itself more vibrant. They could be backwoods brothers downing tools and picking up instruments as they tear with raging conviction into Living In America, the song whose opening line gives the album its title, or lonesome cowboys singing the blues on the Hank Williamsesque Natural Thing To Do. There's lickety-split bluegrass sophistication too, with Brittany Haas from Boston's Crooked Still adding fiddle to the guys' mandolin and guitar, gospel fire and brimstone, knockabout farmyard fun and poetic rustic imagery sung with passion, grit and realism. They're touring Scotland later this month; go and grab some soulfood.
Rob Adams
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article