The complete title of this recording is Shine A Light: Field Recordings From The Great American Railroad. Even before you’ve pressed play you’ve read an essay and developed a headache wondering precisely which railroad line is the great one. Then commences the arduous journey of discovering the dustbowl of carefully constructed authenticity.
This collection of songs have become staples for many musicians and was even recorded on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles. Think of songs like The Midnight Special, In The Pines, John Henry. They are all here front and centre just like they were in the catalogue of the likes of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Glen Campbell. Bragg and Henry bring tears of sorrow and joy in equal buckets. There’s gutsy stuff in the lyrics and an intensity in the delivery, presented by two artists who’ve straddled the no-man’s land of dedicated cult appreciation and occasional mainstream popularity.
Completely barren and raw, this acoustic romp is not adorned by effects and overdubs or studio wizardry. The troubadour spirit of voices and guitars bring the simple pleasure of these songs. An unbounded beauty often shines through if one accepts the starting point that life is just a continuum of making bad decisions. Lonesome Whistle and Hobo’s Lullaby are cases in point. A curio of sorts but not unexpected when you consider these artists background. Independent thinkers who create a vulnerable undertow that rarely misses the emotional target.
A collaboration that has poignant and serious element in spades, making for a satisfying whole, even though the sum of the parts has been heard many times before.
BY BRONIUS ZUMERIS
