Gillian Welch/Revival (Almo Music)

Back in the day, Emmylou sang about being the Queen of the Silver Dollar…

“the scepter is her wine glass…
and the bar stool is her throne.”

As did Waylon Jennings, Dave and Sugar and even Dr. Hook.

Townes Van Zandt more than eloquently displayed his desire to hop aboard a steaming White Freightliner. Well I wouldn’t be surprised if she was riding bitch with him, sipping on some sour bottle of Kentucky regret and Yankee inspiration.
There is something of an Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe and even Arthur Miller in her well-worn turn of phrase.



Of whom do I speak? Why none other than the fabulous Ms. Gillian Welch. She is the heir to the bar stool throne of which Emmylou so elegantly spoke. She is the White Freightliner of Townes wearied road. She is the dead baby taken by the lord too soon and the chalk gray slate of Poe’s last craven scrawl. She is the preacher and politician speaking the words of the people…who works her grift on suckers at the carnival on the weekends.

This is high lonesome stuff folks.

Stand out tracks, which amount to the whole of this recording, are;

Paper Wings, a dusty post depression era lament of regrettable actions.

Annabelle, which might have been penned by Poe or Washington Irving, gems of misfortune, etched into a tombstone that will never be forgotten

By the Mark, which could soften the hardest of sinners hearts, if only they would hear the words of the lord.

One more dollar, an ode to Cesar Chavez and John Steinbeck.



Revival is the debut recording by Ms. Gillian Welch and partner David Rawlings. It is a sad and damp car ride through the patchwork of American failure, American tragedy, American foolishness.
If you’re looking for beautiful harmonies, well theirs is nothing short of wondrous, like a hummingbird siding up to a magnolia, they flit and they flirt and they come up smelling of god’s work.
Stripped away from bullshit pretension and idea, Revival is a testament to the true spirit of the American songwriter and an historical recording of purity and the truest and most sincere sentiment.