Gillian Welch

Revival introduced Gillian Welch's pastoral psalms in 1996, when similar artists were trying to find out what it might sound like if Gram Parsons fronted the Replacements. The album's slow-burning approximations of the Carter Family's brand of old timey Appalachian Americana are kept relevant with lyrics that reflect modern-day living and loving.

Gillian Welch doesn't play rock music, but the determination with which she has cast
herself into a role that by no right belongs to her shows pure rock attitude. This child of
Hollywood television-theme composers moved to Nashville after an apprenticeship in the
folk dens of Santa Cruz, Calif., and Boston. Despite her affection for the Pixies, Welch
abandoned the present tense altogether in favor of museum-careful invocations... More >

Who cares if her polka-dot dress is a costume rather than a heritage? She's got as much right to be a folkie as 10,000 mediocrities and a few dozen geniuses before her. Iris DeMent is a custodian's daughter, Lucinda Williams a poet's daughter, Bonnie Raitt a musical comedy star's daughter, yet from their differing authenticities each has said something unique about the rural South and everyday people. Welch is a songwriting team's daughter who, as is more common, hasn't--not yet, probably not ever. She just doesn't have the voice, eye, or way with words to bring her simulation off. Unless you're highly susceptible to good intentions, a malady some refer to as folkie's disease, that should be that. (Grade - B-)