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The Great Divide
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The Great Divide in Chattanooga, TN
Current price: $13.99
Barnes and Noble
The Great Divide in Chattanooga, TN
Current price: $13.99
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Guitarist
Tommy Shaw
spent the first decade of the 21st century reuniting with his longtime outfit
Styx
, making recording with
Damn Yankees
, and as
Shaw Blades
with
Yankees
mate
Jack Blades
. He begins the second decade making a very wide left turn, returning to the roots music he cut his guitar-playing teeth on in his native Alabama: bluegrass.
The Great Divide
is not a novelty record, nor does it sound like
Shaw
is merely flirting with the genre while biding his time until another
reunion. He wrote or co-wrote every song on the record, and surrounded himself with some of the best players in the genre: superchoppers like fiddler
Stuart Duncan
, mandolinist
Sam Bush
, bassist
Byron House
, banjoist
Scott Vestal
, dobro master
Rob Ickes
, guitarist
Brad Davis
, and just to make things interesting, drummer
Chris Brown
. The progressive bluegrass set also features a pair of superstar guest vocalists --
Dwight Yoakam
on album-opener
"The Next Right Thing,"
and
Alison Krauss
on the title track (that also features guest
Jerry Douglas
on dobro) -- one of the real high points on this outing.
's flatpicking skills don't sound rusty at all, whether he's playing an acoustic six-string, a resonator guitar, or even a dobro. The other players push him to play at their level and he mostly does: check his dobro solo on
"Back in Your Kitchen,"
the stomping on
"Get on the One,"
where he works out with
Ickes
Vestal
, and the strolling closer
"I'll Be Coming Home,"
where his flatpicking chops are in evidence
allows his all-star band to shine throughout this set, with
Duncan
's fiddle parts on
"Afraid to Love,"
Bush
on
"Cavalry,"
to mention just two. There are weaknesses, too, however. Despite some excellent harmonies from his guests and co-producer
Will Evankovich
,
has to push at his upper vocal register and has to strain to get there. The other snag is in his songwriting; in particular, when he writes on his own. He may be intimately familiar with the genre, but he's rough around the edges when it comes to crafting choruses, and a little wordy in his verses. That said, given that this is a first album, there's plenty to like, and evidence that should he continue pursuing bluegrass, he'll only get better. ~ Thom Jurek
Tommy Shaw
spent the first decade of the 21st century reuniting with his longtime outfit
Styx
, making recording with
Damn Yankees
, and as
Shaw Blades
with
Yankees
mate
Jack Blades
. He begins the second decade making a very wide left turn, returning to the roots music he cut his guitar-playing teeth on in his native Alabama: bluegrass.
The Great Divide
is not a novelty record, nor does it sound like
Shaw
is merely flirting with the genre while biding his time until another
reunion. He wrote or co-wrote every song on the record, and surrounded himself with some of the best players in the genre: superchoppers like fiddler
Stuart Duncan
, mandolinist
Sam Bush
, bassist
Byron House
, banjoist
Scott Vestal
, dobro master
Rob Ickes
, guitarist
Brad Davis
, and just to make things interesting, drummer
Chris Brown
. The progressive bluegrass set also features a pair of superstar guest vocalists --
Dwight Yoakam
on album-opener
"The Next Right Thing,"
and
Alison Krauss
on the title track (that also features guest
Jerry Douglas
on dobro) -- one of the real high points on this outing.
's flatpicking skills don't sound rusty at all, whether he's playing an acoustic six-string, a resonator guitar, or even a dobro. The other players push him to play at their level and he mostly does: check his dobro solo on
"Back in Your Kitchen,"
the stomping on
"Get on the One,"
where he works out with
Ickes
Vestal
, and the strolling closer
"I'll Be Coming Home,"
where his flatpicking chops are in evidence
allows his all-star band to shine throughout this set, with
Duncan
's fiddle parts on
"Afraid to Love,"
Bush
on
"Cavalry,"
to mention just two. There are weaknesses, too, however. Despite some excellent harmonies from his guests and co-producer
Will Evankovich
,
has to push at his upper vocal register and has to strain to get there. The other snag is in his songwriting; in particular, when he writes on his own. He may be intimately familiar with the genre, but he's rough around the edges when it comes to crafting choruses, and a little wordy in his verses. That said, given that this is a first album, there's plenty to like, and evidence that should he continue pursuing bluegrass, he'll only get better. ~ Thom Jurek
Guitarist
Tommy Shaw
spent the first decade of the 21st century reuniting with his longtime outfit
Styx
, making recording with
Damn Yankees
, and as
Shaw Blades
with
Yankees
mate
Jack Blades
. He begins the second decade making a very wide left turn, returning to the roots music he cut his guitar-playing teeth on in his native Alabama: bluegrass.
The Great Divide
is not a novelty record, nor does it sound like
Shaw
is merely flirting with the genre while biding his time until another
reunion. He wrote or co-wrote every song on the record, and surrounded himself with some of the best players in the genre: superchoppers like fiddler
Stuart Duncan
, mandolinist
Sam Bush
, bassist
Byron House
, banjoist
Scott Vestal
, dobro master
Rob Ickes
, guitarist
Brad Davis
, and just to make things interesting, drummer
Chris Brown
. The progressive bluegrass set also features a pair of superstar guest vocalists --
Dwight Yoakam
on album-opener
"The Next Right Thing,"
and
Alison Krauss
on the title track (that also features guest
Jerry Douglas
on dobro) -- one of the real high points on this outing.
's flatpicking skills don't sound rusty at all, whether he's playing an acoustic six-string, a resonator guitar, or even a dobro. The other players push him to play at their level and he mostly does: check his dobro solo on
"Back in Your Kitchen,"
the stomping on
"Get on the One,"
where he works out with
Ickes
Vestal
, and the strolling closer
"I'll Be Coming Home,"
where his flatpicking chops are in evidence
allows his all-star band to shine throughout this set, with
Duncan
's fiddle parts on
"Afraid to Love,"
Bush
on
"Cavalry,"
to mention just two. There are weaknesses, too, however. Despite some excellent harmonies from his guests and co-producer
Will Evankovich
,
has to push at his upper vocal register and has to strain to get there. The other snag is in his songwriting; in particular, when he writes on his own. He may be intimately familiar with the genre, but he's rough around the edges when it comes to crafting choruses, and a little wordy in his verses. That said, given that this is a first album, there's plenty to like, and evidence that should he continue pursuing bluegrass, he'll only get better. ~ Thom Jurek
Tommy Shaw
spent the first decade of the 21st century reuniting with his longtime outfit
Styx
, making recording with
Damn Yankees
, and as
Shaw Blades
with
Yankees
mate
Jack Blades
. He begins the second decade making a very wide left turn, returning to the roots music he cut his guitar-playing teeth on in his native Alabama: bluegrass.
The Great Divide
is not a novelty record, nor does it sound like
Shaw
is merely flirting with the genre while biding his time until another
reunion. He wrote or co-wrote every song on the record, and surrounded himself with some of the best players in the genre: superchoppers like fiddler
Stuart Duncan
, mandolinist
Sam Bush
, bassist
Byron House
, banjoist
Scott Vestal
, dobro master
Rob Ickes
, guitarist
Brad Davis
, and just to make things interesting, drummer
Chris Brown
. The progressive bluegrass set also features a pair of superstar guest vocalists --
Dwight Yoakam
on album-opener
"The Next Right Thing,"
and
Alison Krauss
on the title track (that also features guest
Jerry Douglas
on dobro) -- one of the real high points on this outing.
's flatpicking skills don't sound rusty at all, whether he's playing an acoustic six-string, a resonator guitar, or even a dobro. The other players push him to play at their level and he mostly does: check his dobro solo on
"Back in Your Kitchen,"
the stomping on
"Get on the One,"
where he works out with
Ickes
Vestal
, and the strolling closer
"I'll Be Coming Home,"
where his flatpicking chops are in evidence
allows his all-star band to shine throughout this set, with
Duncan
's fiddle parts on
"Afraid to Love,"
Bush
on
"Cavalry,"
to mention just two. There are weaknesses, too, however. Despite some excellent harmonies from his guests and co-producer
Will Evankovich
,
has to push at his upper vocal register and has to strain to get there. The other snag is in his songwriting; in particular, when he writes on his own. He may be intimately familiar with the genre, but he's rough around the edges when it comes to crafting choruses, and a little wordy in his verses. That said, given that this is a first album, there's plenty to like, and evidence that should he continue pursuing bluegrass, he'll only get better. ~ Thom Jurek
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Find Barnes and Noble at Hamilton Place in Chattanooga, TN
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