Dave Evans: Pretty Green Hills

Why do we view traditional bluegrass as music whose colors and edges have been faded and blunted by the passage of time?  Maybe it’s because almost no one infuses traditional grass with as much drive and vitality as Dave Evans.

There’s a mix of classic and contemporary songs on Evans’ latest, but if you don’t know the classics, you’ll find yourself sneaking looks at the liner notes to figure out which songs are from the golden age of grass and which were written just for this album.  Evans, whose picking combines an old-time ring with driving authority, takes no prisoners.

Equally adept on banjo (his main instrument) and guitar, Evans plays both on the album’s hair-raising title cut, from Tom T. and Dixie Hall. And his vocals, here and throughout, are pure, unfiltered, mountain soul.

Evans understands that for yet another version of a classic to succeed, he has to invest as much heart in it as he would a song he’d just finished yesterday.  No rueful, barstool karaoke here:  With Evans, every note means something. The traditional tunes, “Cora Is Gone” and “East Virginia Blues”; Hank Williams’ “(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle”; and “Sea Of Regret” (popularized by the Stanley Brothers) are sterling examples of these principles at work.  You know the stories are not going to end well – not because you’ve heard the songs before, but because Evans is a born storyteller.  His delivery puts you on the edge of your seat until the last notes die away.

The instrumental work is just as satisfying.  Evans and crew give a chestnut like “Soldier’s Joy” such a fresh, sprightly reading that you’d never know they’ve played it a million times in a million other bands. Evans makes you glad to hear the old songs again; you can’t wait to discover what he and the band will do next.

Little touches, like the high-stakes vocal harmonies of “Cora Is Gone”, and Mike Garris’ swinging bass (which drives a startlingly fresh take on Lester Flatt’s “Head Over Heels”) make these old, familiar tunes new again.

Special mention should be made of Bobby Hicks, whose sublime fiddle work casts a honeyed glow over every track on which he plays.

“Pretty Green Hills” is a bracing, welcome reminder of bluegrass’s mountain origins, and a perfect gift for those hard-to-please, traditional ‘grass fans on your Christmas list.

Originally published on The Lonesome Road Review.