Throughout much of America, regional styles of music and the church are deeply intertwined. Whether it’s the sheer number of bluegrass interpretations of spiritual songs, or the influence of gospel music in the blues, spirit and soul are wound like a double helix. That relationship is displayed grandly in the new, self-titled album from rural North Carolina’s Ogden Heart. Led by the multi-talented Kathryn Caine, the band features her daughter, Isabel, on vocals, and son, Evans, on bass and vocals.
Conceived by Caine as a chance to capture a tumultuous period of her life, the record embraces a wide range of emotions that weave around a centerline of bluegrass. One of the original compositions, Backwoods Sound, brilliantly describes the bluegrass combination of instrumental mastery and hillbilly sensibility as “the Mona Lisa on a dirt road”. Silver Dagger starts with a bit of pop before kicking into bluegrass overdrive and features Isabel’s soaring vocal lead. Nine Times Blue gives a ‘grass twist to the Michael Nesmith-penned tune.
A little further from that centerline is The One I Love Is Gone, a solid blues remake of a Bill Monroe number. Whiskey Song puts a honky-tonk edge on a lifestyle transition where Friday night goes from bustling and busy to “the kids are gone, and the whiskey is, too”. Roger Miller’s The Crossing turns into hymnal worthy material for next Sunday’s choir. The album finishes with The Bye And Bye, an emotional farewell to Caine’s father and musical inspiration, Dr. William Singleton Ogden.
Kathryn Caine is a seasoned musician who’s crossed through pretty much all the genres of the southeastern US. She’s made it a point to bring her kids with her, not as spectators, but as co-travelers. So Ogden Heart is really a debut twenty years in the making. Their experience comes across in their new album and I haven’t heard a better sampler of Appalachian styles than Ogden Heart.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.