Album Review: Bronwyn, ‘Rattlin’ Bones’
Listening to some albums, you feel as if you’re sitting right there in the room with the musicians, and Bronwyn’s third album ‘Rattlin’ Bones’ is one of them. Fiddler and singer Bronwyn wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album. They explore the ragged contours of human longing, love, and hope.
“Sticks and Stones,” which contains the album’s title phrase, dashes off feverishly, guided by Bronwyn’s (Bronwyn Keith-Hyne) fiery fiddling and fueled by rapid-fire mandolin, guitar, and banjo picking. Each player gets to stretch out momentarily on the two instrumental bridges, with Bronwyn and guitarist Bryan Sutton trading licks on the second bridge. The song mimics the rattling of a tour bus and evokes the tiredness and excitement of being on the road.
Jerry Douglas’ lilting Dobro flows under Bronwyn’s crystalline vocals on “The Ride,” an ode to the longing and loneliness of being on the road. Darrell Scott and Frank Rische add harmony vocals to this achingly beautiful song. Bright notes of guitar, mandolin, and fiddle dash in between layers of minor chord Dobro on “Johnny Ray,” a psychedelic bluegrass rambler about addiction and the loss it leaves in its wake. The quiet opening bars of “Chasing Storms” unfurl into a spiraling rush of instrumentation and harmony vocals, evoking the tempestuous nature of human relationships and the exquisite capacity for chasing these relationships, no matter how stormy.
The funky country ballad “Gallatin Road (featuring Timbo)” struts down the avenue that runs from East Nashville through Gallatin to Madison, celebrating the parade of life—from donut dens to payday loan stores—that populate Gallatin Road. Like the waters of a brook falling over the rocks, “Rainbow Trout” slowly meanders along a jazzy and bluesy path, spaciously unveiling the beauties of living life on your own terms. Bronwyn’s fiddle solo on the instrumental bridge sonically resembles It’s a Beautiful Life’s “White Bird.”(1969).
The straight ahead bluegrass ballad “Virginia Gal” tells the story of a young girl transported by the fiddle and who’s willing to let her playing take her anywhere the road leads: “Play her fiddle round the fire play her fiddle in the rain/It’s the one thing she can count on and she don’t have to explain/When she starts to get that feeling close her eyes and play a waltz.” The album closes with “Golden Hour Daydream,” a psychedelic folk hymn to seeing the glorious beauty of world “when we open up the windows of our minds.”
‘Rattlin’ Bones’ showcases Bronwyn’s lyrical ingenuity. Her instrumental innovativeness paired with her tight harmonies is transporting. It’s one of the best albums of the year so far.
