Artist: The Steeldrivers
Album: Bad for You
Label: Rounder Records
Release Date: 2.7.20
More suited to play the role of a gritty anti-hero rather than a clean-cut savior, Kelvin Damrell is the new leading man for traditional bluegrass roughnecks The Steeldrivers, joining the skilled ensemble for their rustic and refined new LP Bad for You. It was a brave casting choice, as The Steeldrivers turned the page yet again after another divorce.
Plucked from obscurity, the young rock-and-roll hotshot—a bluegrass convert—from Berea, Kentucky, had big shoes to fill, replacing Gary Nichols as lead singer and guitarist. Nichols is hoping to break out as a solo artist after admirably filling in for band co-founder and soulful country star crooner Chris Stapleton, an even harder act to follow. With a slight rasp, Damrell’s weathered vocals are dirty and raw, perfect for any occasion on Bad for You, as song-oriented a record as The Steeldrivers have ever produced. Full of character, his delightfully rusty pipes add tender vulnerability and hopefulness to the sweetly melodic charmer “I Choose You,” a shaggy, imperfect love song for a couple hanging on to each other for dear life. In the sweeping, Southern gothic ballads “Innocent Man” and “Falling Man,” the latter a somber tribute to the unidentified victim caught falling in midair in a famous 9/11 photo, there’s a darkness in Damrell’s dramatic readings that’s as deep as a coal mine. The sad, country waltz “Lonely and Being Alone” reeks of isolation and depression because of him.
Unfiltered honesty is what “The Bartender” doles out, as Damrell sings, “When it’s all said and done/I don’t pull the trigger/I just load the gun.” The drunken driving implications are clear even if his conscience isn’t. All the while, deftly picked mandolin and banjo wheel about in a complex, up-tempo, Appalachian ballet, choreographed by Brent Truitt and Richard Bailey, respectively. Gracefully tumbling to and fro, their playing throughout is a model of elegant restraint and fiery passion. They fall in easily with each other to create dazzling patterns of silver and gold, while the constantly swerving, curve-hugging fiddle of Tammy Rogers makes sharp cuts on a dime and stretches out beautiful elongated lines. Mike Fleming’s subtle bass work provides the necessary glue. And yet for all their estimable chops, not to mention their tight synergy and old-timey authenticity, The Steeldrivers take care to not damage solid song structures or their woodsy, and sometimes intimate, atmospheres with flashy excess. Although the ripping instrumental “Mama Says No” lets it all hang out.
A progressive bluegrass sensibility emerges in the gorgeous closer “When a Heart Breaks,” flying over a gently rolling landscape. Maybe that signals a more ambitious and modern approach is coming. For now, simply get lost in their lightly textured harmonies, organic songcraft – mainly a product of Rogers’ vision and creativity, although her writing partners contributed mightily to a process of natural selection – and The Steeldrivers’ humble adherence to what’s true and real. The search parties won’t find you.
—Peter Lindblad
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