Dobro master
Jerry Douglas steps out of his usual sideman's role (he has appeared on over 1,000 albums) on this excellent solo effort. He shows off his instrumental virtuosity and versatility on a mix of bluegrass, hard country, jazz (covering an old
Erroll Garner tune), blues, and even traditional Irish music. Guest vocalists include
Maura O'Connell,
Tim O'Brien,
John Cowan and
Steve Earle, who offers a gritty reading of
Johnny Cash's "Don't Take your Guns to Town." Among the standout instrumentalists joining
Douglas are
Bela Fleck,
Sam Bush and
Sonny Landreth, who delivers some remarkable work on metal-body dobro. ~ Joel Roberts