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Del McCoury Band
The Company We Keep
(McCoury Music/Sugar Hill)
First Appeared in The Music Box, August 2005, Volume 12, #8
Written by John Metzger
Although the Del McCoury Band has sprinkled its albums with songs by Tom
Petty, Richard Thompson, and John Sebastian, it always has managed to infuse its
music with healthy dose of tradition. Because of its dichotomous approach, it
has been able to assemble a wide-ranging audience that spans generations, from
fans of Bill Monroe to followers of String Cheese Incident. Nevertheless, its
latest effort The Company We Keep is, at first glance, strikingly more
conservative than most of the ensemble’s recent output. In fact, the
collection’s 14 songs, which are connected by the common ground of family and
friendship, are more autobiographical and personal than anything the group
previously has issued, and the arrangements of the material are steeped in
bluegrass-hued customs.
Beneath the surface of The Company We Keep, however, the Del McCoury
Band’s progressive tendencies still manage to shine. As the musicians
intertwine, with impeccable precision, their sterling streams of splendorous
sounds, it becomes clear that there’s more to the outing than initially meets
the eye. Indeed, the drama, the tension, and the drive that lurk within the
group’s swirling instrumental interplay draw from the best that rock’s
long-lived synthesis has to offer, and the vocals of the ensemble’s namesake
have never been more passionately heartfelt and soulful.
The recent departure of bass player Mike Bub certainly will alter the Del
McCoury Band’s remarkable chemistry, but throughout The Company We Keep
there are no signs that the collective’s foundation had begun to crack. Whether
grooving through the shifting time signatures of Nothin’ Special;
settling into the breezy bucolic bliss of Never Grow Up Boy; singing
spiritual praises on I Never Knew Life; or defiantly delivering the
lacerating lovesick blues of She Can’t Burn Me Now, there’s little doubt
that The Company We Keep ranks among the Del McCoury Band’s best works. 
The Company We Keep is available from Amazon.com.
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48th Annual Grammy Award Winner:
Best Bluegrass Album
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2005
The Music Box
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