This a companion disc to an earlier release of 2002, THE WIDE WORLD OVER, celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Chieftains.
Additional personnel includes: Buddy & Julie Miller, Earl Scruggs, Martina McBride, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Bela Fleck, Ricky Skaggs, Patty Griffin, John Hiatt, Alison Krauss, Lyle Lovett, Del McCoury, Jeff White, Martina McBride, Vince Gill.
DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Folk Album. "Sally Goodin" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Country Instrumental Performance.
Those eclectic ambassadors of Irish music are at it again, this time taking their act to Nashville for sessions with some of country music's most popular artists. On the one hand, you'd think that the most famous Irish folk group in the world would spend more time simply playing Irish music instead of guesting with artists from and dipping into seemingly every other conceivable genre. On the other, when you've recorded as much amazing Irish traditional music as exists in these guys' back catalog, you've pretty much got carte blanche to do whatever the hell you want.
Anyway, Irish music played a major role in the coalescing of early country music, so DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD turns out to house a pretty good musical fit. Still, there are plenty of musical surprises afoot. It might not be a revelation to hear Lyle Lovett singing a traditional tune like "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down," but to hear it with added Celtic flavoring is quite an ear-turner. The lads work similar magic with everyone from Gillian Welch to venerable bluegrass patriarch Del McCoury, showing that this is one Irish outfit that refuses to be pinned down to a predictable sound.
The Chieftains includes: Paddy Moloney.Rolling Stone (10/02, p.72) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Their most heartening work since 1988's IRISH HEARTBEAT..." Uncut (12/02, p.132) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...An album of old-time bluegrass and Appalachian tunes..."
Down The Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions Music Review
Customer Down The Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions Reviews
Average Rating: (5 out of 5 stars)
Chieftains Strike Gold ............. again The Chieftains are in flying form on this latest album where the cream of the twin traditions of Irish Traditional and American Country Music come together for a Seisiun.
The album opens with a swirl of the harp strings as the band launch into the title track with vocals from John Hiatt who describes the Chieftains as “the original rock gods”.
The guest artists come from both the new and the old traditions. They include Martina Mc Bride, Buddy Miller, Ricky Skaggs, Bela Fleck (known here as Mr Maura O’Connell) Jeff White, Vince Gill and many others.
On this fourteen track disc there a few stand out songs including:
“Molly Bawn” with Alison Krauss.
“Cindy” with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.
“Don’t let your deal go down” by Lyle Lovett.
Perhaps the best of all is a song that has been slaughtered in many a singing pub by a “musician” engaged in mortal combat with a drum machine. This is by Vince Gill one of the biggest stars in Nashville, he sings “ Dark as a Dungeon”.
“Down the old Plank Road” is the Chieftains 40th album and a fitting tribute to Derek Bell their harpist who died last month. . He gave them their unique sound and added much of the humor to their style of playing.
I am an a la carte Chieftains fan. I never considered them “rock gods” but I really enjoyed my fifty four minutes “Down the Old Plank Road”.
Submitted by paul_egan (Tullaghanogue, Trim, Co Meath, Ireland.) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 1 of 1 found this helpful.
great bluegrass music excellent Submitted by a reviewer (mansfield,0ohio) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo This review is for a different format.
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