It took a quirky 2001 film–and some enthusiastic word-of-mouth–to put classic bluegrass and rustic country music back on the mainstream map. “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” wasn’t just a critical smash, earning the Grammy Awards’ album of the year honor, but was a commercial winner as well, ultimately moving more than 6.5 million copies.
We’ll soon learn whether middle America is ready to keep dipping its toes back into its own musical heritage. Up for contention this time: folk, gospel, blues and country from the mid-19th Century, music that serves as the backdrop to the film “Cold Mountain,” the Civil War drama that’s already garnering big buzz and is set to hit theaters Dec. 24.
If these vintage sounds have a shot at joining the “O Brother” revival party–transforming unstylish into high style–this gorgeous 19-track collection certainly won’t hurt the cause. Sincere, heartfelt and pleasantly plaintive, the album is a warm homage to legitimate Americana-roots music. The soundtrack certainly gets a boost from the presence of garage rock’s auteur du jour, Jack White, who has built a career on musical authenticity and who keeps that vitality intact here. The disc opens with his mournful take on the traditional folk standard “Wayfaring Stranger,” tastefully accompanied by sparse fiddle, mandolin and threadbare acoustic guitar.
White–who also appears in the film, where he met current girlfriend Renee Zellweger–maintains that honesty through his five cuts, all of them album highlights. Skeptics who have chalked up the White Stripes’ proclivity for old sounds as a calculated conceit might finally grasp the reality of the situation: that the 28-year-old musician has a genuine devotion to the stuff that came before him.
More Top Picks Best Aquarium Sump Pumps For The Money
If nothing else, White’s “Cold Mountain” work confirms that his musical brain is brewing with more than the gritty guitar licks and howling garage vocals that have turned him into an international luminary.
“Cold Mountain” comes with some strong “O Brother” links. T-Bone Burnett supervised production, bestowing the same passion he gave to that successful project. Alison Krauss puts her lovely voice to a pair of songs, including Elvis Costello’s appropriately ethereal “The Scarlet Tide.” And bluegrass patriarch Ralph Stanley, who last year won his first Grammy for his “O Brother” work, lends a subtle touch, collaborating with White on Stanley’s classic old “Great High Mountain.”