Wishes do come true. Four years ago I wrote about the debut solo album from Steep Canyon Rangers’ banjoist and frequent lead singer, Graham Sharp. I finished the post expressing a hope that, as much as I like the Rangers, the record wouldn’t be his last solo effort. Well, just out is another release from Sharp, called How Did We Do It. Whereas he used that first record to push into country music territory, he and his banjo are back in full bluegrass regalia here.
Sharp notes that the songs included here are loosely aligned as love songs. Opener Living Like Thieves hews to that as a love letter to his fans and how lucky he’s been they’ve enabled him to live the life he has. Pretty Green Eyes is a bluegrass waltz about a loved one and his admiration for everything they’ve done and how the world is a better place because of them. Watertown is in more of a progressive bluegrass vein. I can’t for the life of me figure out the love connection here, but it features Casey Dreissen so maybe it’s just love of the fiddle.
How Did We Do It evokes a strong element of John Hartford, from Sharp’s baritone vocals to a chorus where you can hear the fun everyone is having doing the recording. This one is about how you struggle when you’re young, in love, and carving out your place in the world. A Good Year has a whisper of blues, and paints a picture of some memorable moments. His description of it being “warm enough to bait a hook, but too cold for snakes” certainly gave me a Kodak moment of springtime when I was young. Angels Don’t Sleep is a little folkier in a tale of determination where he pleads, “help me find the strength I need…I got promises I mean to keep.”
For some folks, the term “bluegrass banjo” has a pretty narrow definition. Graham Sharp doesn’t see it that way at all. Several years ago I had the chance to ask him his thoughts on the subject and his response was that Jerry Lee Lewis’ piano style in no way changes the classical music of Beethoven. So maybe you won’t call this record bluegrass, but if you want to hear a really good collection of songs that feature the banjo, look no further than How Did We Do It.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.