Some songs, some performances, are so good you don’t know what to talk about first.
What strikes me about this record from the classic lineup of The Seldom Scene is how the band makes an absolutely-chilling bluegrass breakup song out of such un-bluegrassy elements.
Where Ralph Stanley would howl, the Scene gets deathly quiet. Where Jimmy Martin would go full-out, the Scene makes precise and careful use of dynamics. Where Monroe would wear his heart on his sleeve, this band tells this story from a distance.
The impact of a life no longer lived together is palpable in Starling's conscious decision to use near-whispers the way a drummer might use cymbal hits. If he lets go, God only knows what might come forth, who might hear, who might know that his callous, careless treatment of the woman he loved was nothing more than an act.
This is The Seldom Scene, and a progressive bluegrass masterpiece called “Another Lonesome Day”.
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