Old Crow Medicine Show honed their authentic American folk sound the old-fashioned way: nonstop performance since 1998, playing for crowds ranging from a dozen folks on a street corner to thousands of people at auditoriums, opening for country legends like Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, and Marty Stuart. Along the way they joined forces with David Rawlings, who co-wrote five of the tracks and produced this album, and Rawlings’ musical partner, Gillian Welch, who plays drums on four songs. Big Iron World is their second release and features more original songs than 2004's self-titled debut. Their own compositions fit snugly alongside Woody Guthrie’s “Union Maid” and public domain tunes “Cocaine Habit” and “Let it Alone” while still maintaining a modern feel, combining old-time acoustic string band instrumentation (harmonica, upright bass, fiddle, banjo, and slide guitar), a strong and expressive collective voice rooted firmly in the country and bluegrass tradition, and the energy and enthusiasm of an electrified rock’n’roll group. Raucous, heartfelt, and above all, fun, Big Iron World bridges the gap between the old folk world and the new.