There’s nothing like going to the source of your inspiration to really understand its intricacies. Â Californian Tim Bluhm, of The Mother Hips, did just that when he decided to do a country music album. Â Sorta Surviving was recorded at Johnny Cash’s cabin-cum-studio, and features A-list players like Jesse Aycock on guitar and Elizabeth Cook on background vocals. Â The result is a record a lot of people in Nashville just wish they could do.
Bluhm tackles legacies head on with a beautiful rendition of Cash’s I Still Miss Someone. Â He practically out-Haggard’s Merle himself with a cover of Kern River. Â Raining Gravel, a ballad about the Dustbowl and the circumstances that drove the Okies west, is a Bluhm original. Â If someone told you it had been written by Woody Guthrie, though, you wouldn’t doubt it for a second. Â Bluhm went to the lower part of his vocal range for Jimmy West, a honky-tonk tale of the boy who beat up the bully that has a Dave Alvin feel to it.
The best songs on the album are when Tim applies his talent to some of his original country ballads. Â No Way To Steer is an tale about being headstrong. Â Squeaky Wheel, the most uptempo song on the record, lies in a similar vein as Bluhm sings “this squeaky wheel does not want any grease.” Â Jesus Save A Singer is a crooner number where he wonders, “can a bad man be saved by singing a good song.” Â I think my favorite is a George Jones style country shuffle about drinking that pushes you to two-step across the floor entitled Where I Parked My Mind.
I suppose it should come as no surprise that Bluhm has the musical range to do a country album well. Â Besides being lead singer of The Mother Hips he was instrumental in the success of ex-wife Nicki Bluhm. Â He’s played with Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann from the Grateful Dead, and started a recording studio with Jackie Greene. Â If you’re hoping to hear something like one of those projects, though, this isn’t the record you’re looking for. Â But if you want to hear some great country music, check out Sorta Surviving.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.