Patchwork River

iTunes Review

Jim Lauderdale’s shared the stage and/or recording studio with many a notable performer, from bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley to soul man Solomon Burke to renaissance man Elvis Costello. For Patchwork River, he teams up with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Hunter’s poetic sensibilities can be heard streaming underneath the tunes, but the real star, as usual, is the tough roots rock to country music of Lauderdale himself. He’s crisp and tough for the title track, settles in for the barroom blues of “Jawbone,” where he’s reared on Willie Nelson and Lefty Frizzell records, and sounds completely at home with the full band attack of “Winnona.” “Far in the Far Away” and “Between Your Heart and Mine” throw in the country slide guitars and pedal steels to sweep the Western plains. “Good Together” could be an on-the-corner street jam with Workingman Dead-era vibes coasting through the arrangement. “Alligator Alley” throws a few blues licks into the story that builds with Lauderdale’s no-nonsense delivery. It’s the sound of an experienced veteran finding his way through a new set of circumstances.