Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, Live at the Old Feed Store

Chris Jones & The Night Drivers

Live At The Old Feed Store

Reviewed by: Brian Roser

What do you get when you play a bluegrass song backwards? You get back your dog, your wife and your pickup truck.

It is so easy to make fun of bluegrass. The banjo music, the unironically worn overalls and the stereotypical Appalachian men with their unhealthy teeth and even unhealthier love of Ned Beatty. You just want to laugh at them…until they start playing. Because holy crap can they play.

They will get your blood going with the instrumental “Emergency Pulloff”. They will play on your heartstrings as deftly as the ones on their banjo with the song “Battle of the Bands”. In it, the Union and Confederate armies are camped next to each other, each one’s band trying to outplay each other. They finally come together to play “Home Sweet Home”, knowing that the next sunrise they see may be their last. Finally they can make you laugh with “Cabin of Death” where they describe bluegrass as “Music that is sung from the heart, through the nose; it’s happy, upbeat sounding music with miserable, depressing lyrics.”

True to bluegrass convention, he does indeed sing about lost love, although I am happy to say that his dog and his pickup truck are both fine. The lost love also turns out to be a bit disingenuous when he brings his wife on stage to play with them. There is a gospel song, an instrumental of “Edelweiss” and a few tracks about finding redemption through coming home again.

Like it says on the tin, Live At The Old Feed Store is a live recording. The energy is high and they even get the audience to join in one of the choruses. Chris Jones & The Night Drivers is a great band, not just for the mastery of their instruments, but for the sheer joy they bring to all those who listen.

Rating: Bad-Ass