Jim Lauderdale, who has
recorded two CDs with Ralph Stanley, opened for Rhonda Vincent at the
Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, on Sunday, March 13. The review from
the March 15 edition of the Washington Post is copied below.
Jeff Root
Fairfax, Virginia
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Jim Lauderdale
Jim Lauderdale is among country
music's most deft shape-shifters. He has touched on bluegrass, honky-tonk and
contemporary styles, as well as recorded with Grateful Dead collaborator Robert
Hunter and eclectic roots purveyors Donna the Buffalo. It was natural that
Lauderdale would focus on the bluegrass side of his work Sunday night at the
Birchmere, where he shared a bill with Rhonda Vincent and the Rage. The
near-capacity crowd was overjoyed at Vincent's fiery set of traditional
bluegrass, but Lauderdale's solo opening performance was a gem in its own
right.
Drawing on the two outstanding albums he made with Ralph Stanley --
1999's "I Feel Like Singing Today" and 2002's "Lost in the Lonesome Pines" --
Lauderdale sang and played with characteristic ease and grace. With just voice
and acoustic guitar, "Lost in the Lonesome Pines" and "Just Another Sinner's
Prayer" became stark emotional pleas, while two Hunter collaborations, "Sandy
Ford (Barbara Lee)" and "Headed for the Hills," sounded timeless, as much 1905
as 2005.
Lauderdale may be better known as a writer than as a performer. He
joked Sunday that he was doing an excessive amount of name-dropping between
songs, but anyone who has penned hits for the likes of George Jones has earned a
little bragging time. Lauderdale proved his bona fides as a musician, though,
singing with pure country crackle and striking phrasing, combining classic
honky-tonk sensibilities with sly wit, a mixture that current Nashvillians
rarely achieve. And that fits, since Lauderdale is a diamond on the slick
terrain of current country music.
