Album Review: Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms, ‘Gold In Your Pocket’
In these fractious times, when the world around us dulls with the dross of dread and seethes with hatred borne by fear, Washington state duo Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms remind us on their new album that we all carry in our pockets the shining gold of family and friends, love and hope.
Brisk guitar picking chases bright fiddle runs around layers of scampering pedal steel in the country folk rambler “He’s Gone,” a gospel-inflected number that canters along as it celebrates the life of dearly departed friend who’s a “legend that needed no folklore.” The song blends the storytelling of John Prine’s songs with the sonic structure of a Flying Burrito Brothers’ tune. Fiddle and pedal steel cavort on the George Jones and Tammy Wynette-like shuffle, “Most Lonely Day,” a reminder that a “Life is fleeting, so why all the hurting and cheating/When all that we gain is a sad country song/Yes tomorrow could be the most lonely day.” Golden mandolin picking and spry fiddling propel the whirling roadhouse number “Shame, Shame, Shame,” whose sunny rhythms belie its scolding lyrics about folks who fabricate their way through life and its effect on others.
Willms’ crystalline vocals float over a bed of pedal steel, fiddle, and mandolin on the Jack Link-penned country weeper “Sad Songs,” as she pleads: “Take me to a bar room with a jukebox/And play the song called Misery Loves Company.” The down-home bluegrass title track prompts us to remember that we can be the “sunshine” in the “daydream” and “gold in the pocket” of our friends or of those who need our support. A lilting waltz, “All about Love” is an ode for our time about the love generated when we sing songs together.
Filled with gorgeous harmonies and flawless instrumentation, the thirteen songs on Gold in Your Pocket range from country weepers to tender lullabies to dancehall swing, each reminding us of the joys of life that despite its transient nature.
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More information about Gold In Your Pocket is available HERE
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