Robin & Linda Williams – Deeper Waters
Few artists have been as consistent (without being boring) as Robin & Linda Williams, and though they’ve changed record labels — Deeper Waters is their Red House debut — their newest album displays the same down-home warmth that marked more than half a dozen 1990s releases for Sugar Hill and earned them plenty of Americana airplay and regular appearances on “A Prairie Home Companion”.
That’s not to say this CD is interchangeable with its predecessors. For one thing, their last album was composed exclusively of covers, while this one is nearly all originals. More importantly, there’s a new prominence for Linda’s clawhammer banjo playing, some new songwriting partners, and a larger assortment of guests — some expected, like longtime friends Mary Chapin Carpenter and John Jennings; others pleasant surprises, like Iris DeMent and actress/singer Sissy Spacek. It all adds up to more wide-ranging material and a broader musical palette.
Still, the core strengths of Deeper Waters are the same ones that have anchored the duo’s work from the beginning. These include tasteful, inventive instrumental work, especially from relatively new band member Jimmy Gaudreau on mandolin; earthy, expressive solo and harmony vocals from the two principals; and songs with characters, stories and images drawn from observations of rural and small-town life that are as sympathetic as they are insightful.
This is music that is both comfortable and thoughtful — a rare combination that explains why and how the Williamses are able to keep on an even keel while musical trends come and go. They don’t play at being country; they are country.