Disciples of the Truth

構成数 : 1枚
合計収録時間 : 00:00:00
First the tough news: Sneaky Pete Kleinow, one of the founders of this band -- and the Flying Burrito Brothers with Gram Parsons, passed away before this recording was issued. Kleinow was 72, and died from Alzheimer's disease in a nursing home. While he is credited here as playing pedal steel, he never really finished the sessions as a full bandmember. Mike Daly, Al Perkins, Daniel Dumore, and Cindy Cashdollar all play pedal steel and dobro. That said, Garth Hudson is also absent here for the first time and has been replaced by Richard Bell. The other addition is rocker Walter Egan playing lead guitar and singing backing vocals. Jeff "Stick" Davis is on bass; Bryan Owings is the band's permanent drummer, but Rick Lonow is back helping out as is Richard Ferreira. The backing vocalists are a stellar group that includes Joy Lynn White, who can be heard best on the beautiful "Wichita," one of the album's standout cuts. Sonically, this band carries a country-rock torch, but it's more on the hard country side of rock than vice versa. The guitars all ring, the pedal steels whine, and the harmony vocals twang. There are some solid rockers, though. One is Egan singing lead on "On a Roll," a song he co-wrote with Rick Schell (who does the backing vocal). The forlorn, road-weary "Out of the Wilderness" that opens the set was penned by Bell and Colin Linden. It's followed by Edwin McCain's "Sun Will Rise," a rock & roll country song. "Wichita," as previously mentioned, is a sure pick, and it may be the finest vocal performance by Carlton Moody on the record. If there's hope for a hit and a solid video, this song paints as sad a picture as one is likely to get from a country song. White's vocal comes off as a ghostly presence as Moody sings about the woman he left behind. He plays some gorgeous mandolin on the set as well. The bottom line is that while Kleinow is a giant presence and certainly an influence on most of the steel players who are here filling his shoes, it's Moody's voice, Bell's amazing keyboard skills, and the wise addition of Egan as a guitarist and singer that make this a country music supergroup. Disciples of the Truth is a fine step forward and gives every indication that this band has no intention of slowing down. ~ Thom Jurek