Fiddler and singer
Alison Krauss
has followed a two-track career path: One marks her longtime association with
Union Station
, her backing band since 1990, and the other, her solo career as a mainstream country artist.
Arcadia
marks the first time she's recorded with
in 14 years. The band includes her violin alongside
Jerry Douglas
's dobro,
Barry Bales
' bass playing, and
Ron Block
's banjo (all sing). Guitarist/mandolinist
Dan Tyminski
announced his solo career after completing this album. He is replaced by
IIIrd Tyme Out
frontman/guitarist
Russell Moore
who, in addition to his lead and baritone harmony singing, will assume guitar duties from here on in.
The ten-track program includes songs
Krauss
collected during the band's hiatus. The first one she chose,
Jeremy Lister
's "The End of the Road," opens the album and sets its tone with a dark tale of despair and disillusionment. All but two tracks here are written in a minor key by a variety of composers with lyrics underscoring heartbreak, change, hardship, historic tragedy, and more.
' brother
Viktor Krauss
(who also contributes piano here) composed the foreboding "The Hangman," set to a poem by
Maurice Ogden
. It's driven by banjo, piano, and arco bass with an affecting, lonesome vocal by
Moore
. There's a dreamy tinge to
Tyminski
's and
Robert Lee Castleman
's "Wrong Way" -- it's a piercing midtempo ballad with dobro as the engine buoying
's heartbreaking vocal.
claims the lead on the traditional "Granite Mills" with the strings arranged by
. It's a ballad based on an 1874 mill fire in Massachusetts that winds through Celtic folk and driving, atmospheric bluegrass. "Richmond on the James" is a Civil War-era tune introduced by an intricate mandolin pulse that's eventually commandeered by banjo as
delivers chugging fiddle stops as an additional rhythm under the bass.
Douglas
delivers winding, unruly chords before
' solo. Her brother co-wrote "One Ray of Shine" with
Saras Siskind
, featuring mandolin by
Adam Steffey
. A moody ballad, it relates the tale of a reclusive protagonist who prefers the tree in her yard to people and yearns for a single ray of sunshine.
JD McPherson
's "North Side Girl" also features
in an old-timey, swinging country-blues with killer dobro work, keening fiddle, and interlocking mandolin. He claims authority with his expressive, empathetic, and resonant instrument.
Castleman
's "Forever" is a paean to a beloved on the occasion of their parting.
gets reverb all over his dobro as
' fiddle answers with passion.
is upfront on "Snow," a high lonesome bluegrass stomper with amazing fiddle, dobro, and banjo work. The album's other bookend, the gorgeous, languid "A Light Up Ahead" is also by
Lister
.
' gentle yet commanding croon delivers a glimmer of hope atop dobro and guitar before the bass enters for
' and
's solos.
is a long-awaited return for
Krauss and Union Station
; here they reframe American traditional music in a context informed by modern production aesthetics, yet still sound kinetic and completely organic. ~ Thom Jurek