Buddy Miller

Description

Buddy Miller cleared out the kitchen to make room for a drum set. What followed is his first solo album in fifteen years — twelve songs of soul, country, nascent rock 'n' roll, and gospel, created with a community of friends and collaborators spanning five decades of American music. The album opens with "As Long as I Have You," the first hit by the Temptations, featuring the McCrary Sisters, who appear throughout the record. From there, it moves through co-writes with Julie Miller ("You Never Really Get Over It," "Losers' Celebration," "Masterpiece in the Sand"), a late song by Dan Penn ("Not Enough Time to Change"), and the devastating "Lay Down the Burden of Your Heart" by Jesse Winchester. The guest list reflects a lifetime of earned trust: Shawn Colvin and Jim Lauderdale — both dating back to Buddy's New York country band in the early '80s — come to sing. Dan Penn brings subtle gravity to "Don't Look Back," written by Smokey Robinson. The War & Treaty delivers a stunning rendition of the Winchester circuit. Lee Ann Womack duets on "Stop Me." Emmylou Harris, Larry Campbell, and Teresa Williams join in on the anthem "The Inner Sanctum of God." And "Till the Wheels Come Off" — written about Buddy and Julie's love by Ashley Monroe, Elizabeth Cook, Angaleena Presley, and Meg McRee — arrives as an act of collective devotion. The core band (Fred Eltringham, Viktor Krauss, Tim Lauer, Steve Fishell, Fats Kaplin) plays with the understated subtlety of musicians who have nothing left to prove. Five of the twelve songs are compositions by Julie Miller, and the album concludes with her words: "The greatest human works are but a masterpiece in the sand."