Jared Tyler— Dirt On His Hands

If Jared Tyler knew what was good for him, at least as regards myself, he would not have started his latest album, Dirt On Your Hands, with “Death of Me.”  I have had an aversion to jug band/dixieland jazz/ragtime since birth.  Not the music itself but mixing it  with rock.  Tyler lost me right off the  bat with a song vaguely reminiscent of artists such as Leon Redbone and Jim Croce, never favorites of mine but obvious favorites of others.  But, hey, I’m the one listening here so I tossed the CD on the scrap heap.  I had not given up on it, mind you, but it would take a solid two months for me to listen again.  By then I was ready to wade through the opener (it is actually a good track, just not my style) to find as good an album as any of the acoustic/electric variety releases the past few months.

For one thing, the album is as well recorded as any album I have recently heard (I spent a minute or two scanning the liner notes to see if Will Kimbrough had something to do with the sound, Kimbrough being a favorite, but it was Dave Roe twisting the knobs and at not Nashville’s RCA Studio A but at Seven Deadly Sins Studio in Goodlettsville, also in Tennessee).  It shows you how far recording studios have come from the golden age of Country & Western and classic rock.

For another, the band is a killer, linking up the likes of Kenny Vaughn (who plays as tasty a guitar as anyone), Dave Roe (who, when not dialing knobs, changes basses to fit every song to a T), Dave Dunseath (a drum master of the shuffling variety), and Tyler himself (who, along with some excellent picking, provides a string of songs well worth hearing).  In fact, they have withstood the test of many listens and have lodged themselves in my head very well, thank you.  Add to that lineup a few guests such as Malcolm Holcombe (who added two very impressive tunes of his own), Suzi Ragsdale (who tosses in harmony vocals on a few tracks), Seth Lee Jones (whose electric slide work on “Gwendolyn” is exceptional), and you have one damn fine album.

Give Tyler a lot of the credit.  His choices of sidemen and songs make this a no-brainer for the Ameriana fan, from the not-my-favorite opening track (just because the style is not to my fancy does not mean that I don’t appreciate its worth) to the country/gospel title track to “Norway,” with its slightly John Denver bent.

Truth be told, I should have written this review months ago,  Maybe I wasn’t ready.  Maybe the words wouldn’t come.  I am happy that they finally did, though.  Tyler deserves to be heard and more specifically this band needs to be heard.  Put a checkmark next to this one.  It would be a perfect stocking stuffer for that special Americana freak in your life.