Trail Of Flowers＜Gold Vinyl＞

Sierra Ferrell begins Trail of Flowers singing about "American Dreaming," and the record itself can play like an American dream: its a freewheeling collection of country and folk, rooted in the past and winking at the future while being focused on the moment at hand. Simultaneously supple and urgent, Ferrells voice sounds equally comfortable on the lackadaisical country-rock of "Dollar Bill Bar" -- its off-center shuffle shows a sideways debt to the Grateful Dead -- and the rampaging fiddle tune "Fox Hunt," yet she seems most at home in the liminal space that separates these two extremes. Ferrell floats through the sun-bleached travelog "Money Train" and sighs along with "Why Havent You Loved Me," not so much a lament as a daydream suited for day-drinking at a dive bar. Ferrells facility with a variety of Americana idioms -- she struts through the old-timey "Chittlin Cookin Time in Cheatham County" and leads her band through the Appalachian singalong "I Could Drive You Crazy" -- never seems flashy or studied. Rather, Trail of Flowers benefits from her light and curious touch: it seems as if shes stumbling upon these traditional sounds for the first time, discovering new ways to tell old tales. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine