The album is packaged in a gorgeous sleeve made of white embossed card with a beautiful sepia-toned photo of Rose's musician ancestors (the whole thing smells of bubblegum, not intentional I am sure but pleasant nonetheless). The old time vibe from the photo sets the mood for the album as Rose fingerpicks and slides his way all over his guitar. His playing is infused heavily with bluegrass and blues techniques and styles.
A description like that would normally turn me off as if there is one thing that has been done to death over the last 80 years is the blues but Rose’s playing make these tired old scales sound fresher than usual.The pieces on this self-titled album all are brimming with warmth and brightness; they sound like they should be accompanied by a video-montage of Appalachian countryside and people lazing on verandas with battered old guitars and farm equipment surrounding them (or maybe I am losing the run of myself here). Rose’s playing is as clean as driven snow and full of expression. Occasionally a touch of reverb is added, such as on “St. Louis Blues,” to add a little color to his already polychromatic playing.
Most of the tracks are around the 3-4 minute mark, which make for perfect little bursts of music. I found it nigh on impossible not to tap my toe to most of them. “Gage Blues” in particular gets my dancing bug all riled up. This is followed by the epic "Spirits in the House," which sees Rose slowing down and slowly building up a heady and lovely mood. This evokes a much more southern feeling compared to the other pieces, a romantic and mythical vision of Louisiana complete with thick heat and humidity. This wonderful piece makes it well worth tracking down this album, the other pieces are good but I found they have a shorter shelf life than this one which I could listen to all day. The way it simmers and bubbles for 13 glorious minutes is sublime.
This album may not be of much interest to someone who cannot stand bluegrass, blues or other roots styles. Although in saying that, I thought myself jaded with all things slide guitar related but I found it to be captivating. Such exemplary guitar playing both makes me jealous that I cannot do similar things with my guitar and reminds me that the vast majority of guitarists do not play the guitar but simply pose with power chords.
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