Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest

The latest from Gillian Welch may be ten tracks representing "ten different kinds of sad", according to longtime musical partner Dave Rawlings, but it is also a welcome and long overdue return from one of the undisputed queens of American folk/roots music. After an eight year break summed up as something of a creative dry spell for the duo, The Harrow and the Harvest may not take us down any unexplored roads but it confirms with striking, easy authority that Welch and Rawlings together make music that is light years beyond what usually passes for contemporary Americana. The back porch tradition of simply presented, rural country folk songs may not strike some as sophisticated fare -- but this is music that is all the better for it's unmannered, straight-to-the-heart approach, achieving greatness with a gentle, but assured, touch.

It is also a celebration of the southern music tradition, an album steeped in a sense of place. “The truth is, we absented ourselves from Nashville for a while, to escape the weight of home and studio and record label," says Welch. " But I think our thoughts turned back there with a newness and clarity I hadn’t felt since I moved there almost 20 years ago.” There's also the sense that what Rawlings describes as their "seamless and fluid" songwriting and performing partnership has reached a remarkable level of creative sentence-finishing harmony. But the best thing about The Harrow and the Harvest is the finely crafted authenticity that emanate from songs like "Six White Horses" and the "Dark Turn of Mind", a celebration of rural acoustic traditions that transcends artisan-like craftsmanship with an impressive artistic vision.

Gillian Welch - "Scarlet Town" (from The Harrow and the Harvest)

Gillian Welch - "Silver Dagger" (from The Harrow and the Harvest)

Stream The Harrow and the Harvest in full at NPR.

Photo Credits: Mark Seliger, Payton X