Buddy Miller
Midnight and Lonesome

(HighTone)

First Appeared in The Music Box, December 2002, Volume 9, #12

Written by John Metzger

It doesn’t matter on which side of the country music fence you tend to find yourself sitting, you’re probably familiar with the work of Buddy Miller. His songs have been covered by country insiders like the Dixie Chicks and Lee Ann Womack, and he’s spent time backing up country outsiders like Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, and Lucinda Williams. It’s no wonder, then, that his fifth album Midnight and Lonesome is such a stylistically scattered affair.

On the one hand, Miller turns The Everly Brothers’ The Price of Love into a country rocker that strives for Earle but comes off closer to Tim McGraw. Likewise, Wild Card offers little beyond typically generic Nashville fare. But as Midnight and Lonesome progresses, it improves dramatically, veering from acoustic blues (Please Send Me Someone to Love) to country-funk (When It Comes to You) without hesitation. Tucked around these songs are several gorgeous ballads, including the heartbroken tear-jerker I Can’t Get Over You; a haunted, road-weary rendition of Jesse Winchester’s A Showman’s Life; and a touching tribute to this past summer’s mining near-disaster (Quecreek). It’s here where Midnight and Lonesome packs its greatest emotional resonance and becomes something more than just another country album. ½

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Ratings

1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2002 The Music Box