Arkansas Traveler
Michelle Shocked
Doc Watson, Pops Staples, Taj Mahal, Alison Krauss
Producer: Michelle Shocked
Mighty Sound, 2005
1 CD
Catalogue #: 6
EAN: 0820692100624
UPC: 820692100624
You save: 20%
Personnel include: Michelle Shocked; Doc Watson, Alison Krauss, Pops Staples, Taj Mahal, Uncle Tupelo.
Michelle Shocked is nothing if not a roots-conscious artist. She initially made her name as a hard-traveling neo-folk troubadour a la Woody Guthrie, early Bob Dylan, et al. After her mainstream breakthrough with the relatively pop-oriented CAPTAIN SWING, she used her newfound celebrity to further explore her roots on the follow-up, ARKANSAS TRAVELER. The 1992 album is essentially an Americana sampler, wherein Shocked teams up with different rootsy artists on each cut. Bluegrass is a heavy influence, and she's joined variously by Doc Watson, Alison Krauss, and other bluegrass greats. On other cuts, she partners with everyone from the Band to Taj Mahal.
While many artists would have made a trad-folk covers album out of such an endeavor, Shocked was talented enough to come up with a brace of original songs that captured the flavor of her influences, while remaining original and distinctive. The 2004 reissue of AT adds seven bonus tracks to the deal, including live cuts, demos, and alternate versions, effectively expanding Shocked's all-American saga.
Tracklist
Michelle Shocked
In the mid-'80s, Shocked represented the acceptable face of the iconoclastic "anti-folk" movement, but her bare-bones acoustic sound soon gave way to a larger ideal that incorporated bluegrass, roots-rock, and even swing. Though her media star dimmed by the mid-'90s, her music remained as powerful as ever.
Doc Watson
Blind North Carolina guitarist Arthel "Doc" Watson did more than anyone other than Earl Scruggs to popularize the guitar as a lead instrument in bluegrass. Watson's trademark two-fingered flatpicking style is one of the most influential in the genre, and has proven influential to all who followed in his wake. He became a professional musician in the 1950s, and was in the right place at the time for the folk boom of the '60s, which made him a star in roots music circles. For many years, Watson worked in a duo with his son Merle, but the latter was killed in a 1985 farm accident. Doc eventually soldiered on, becoming one of the most respected elder statesmen of bluegrass, earning Grammys and plaudits along the way.
Taj Mahal
From the beginning, singer/guitarist Taj Mahal had an interest in/gift for rural blues, and has since embraced everything from electric and psychedelic-tinged blues to reggae and calypso. A tireless performer, he's recorded in many settings, with his honest and impassioned singing providing the common thread through it all. He was a member of '60s band the Rising Sons (which also included Ry Cooder) before embarking on a successful solo career that spanned several decades.
Alison Krauss
In the '90s, no contemporary artist loomed larger in the world of bluegrass than Alison Krauss. With her group Union Station, the young singer/fiddler (who began as a child prodigy) spent the decade bringing traditional bluegrass roots into the mainstream of country music, garnering numerous Grammys in the process. She was the youngest artist ever to become a member of the Grand Old Opry, and she inspired scads of young musicians to help carry on the bluegrass torch. When the genre really hit the mainstream at the turn of the century with the O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU soundtrack, Krauss was right at the heart of it, contributing memorable cuts to the album, while her guitarist Dan Tyminski entered into legend as the singer on the breakthrough hit "Man of Constant Sorrow."
Related links:
Michelle ShockedDoc Watson
Pops Staples
Taj Mahal
Alison Krauss
Rock & Pop
Mighty Sound
