The Country Blues and So Much More

Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley earned a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album their first time out with their debut effort Before the Sun Goes Down, immediately setting a high bar for this and any other effort that will follow. Consequently, despite the fact that each artist is a veteran player in his own right, it was still incumbent upon the duo to ensure that the material covered on their sophomore set The Country Blues meets an exacting standard. Wisely then, they chose to go with time-tested material, tapping Hank Williams, Charlie Daniel, Merle Haggard, Elton John, the Grateful Dead and Sonny Boy Williams by way of the Allman Brothers as their sources. With  few exceptions, the songs are still somewhat obscure, which allows Ickes and Hensley to effectively claim them as their own. Indeed, adding bluegrass tones to John’s “Ballad of a Well Known Gun” is a natural, given that the original idea behind the song was an attempt at replicating Americana. “Friend of the Devil” and “One Way Out” lend themselves to this rustic treatment practically through osmosis, so there’s no real revelation there, but the playing, courtesy of a group of all star contributors — Carl Jackson, Shawn Lane, Aubrey Haynie, Mike Bub and Robinella among them — is as exceptional as one might expect. That’s borne out on one of the few originals, a high octane instrumental romp written by Ickes with steel guitar whiz Buddy Emmons in mind. Back porch savvy with ready accessibility makes the title given The Country Blues an understatement of intent.