Built Right On The Ground

Album Review

A key proponent in whatever folk-blues revival has taken place over three decades, Andy Cohen keeps on digging up buried treasure. His grasp of American acoustic music from decades past and a keen ability to play it remind us all where seeds and soil grew the tallest trees. Playing mostly solo, Cohen's gritty singing paired with a grinding guitar technique creates new excitement from well-worn songs. His fondness for material by Memphis Minnie and Jimmie Rodgers comes through with a natural vibe, but you might not expect him to do Jelly Roll Morton, Meade Lux Lewis, or the version of "Temptation Rag" as first interpreted by Sidney Bechet and Benny Goodman. "Cairo Blues" (pron. "K-ro") is a great song penned by Henry Spaulding in 1929, an 11-bar blues, while Sam McGee's "Railroad Blues" is updated to include rhymes with Obama, while the original "Jim Dickinson Stomp" is for the recently deceased king of Memphis music, as Cohen's states there's "nothing to it" while playing the dolceola. Multi-vocal tracks with Keith Anderson or wife Larkin Bryant, two duets with her on mandolin, or Cohen occasionally at the piano, vary the depth and breadth of this true roots music. A singularly unique figure, Andy Cohen deserves some long overdue accolades via this recording that nobody should pass up. ~ Michael G. Nastos, Rovi