By Terry Roland
—Kin is among the best Americana albums of 2012. It may be among the best albums of 2012 without the genre qualification.
It takes a restless sense of risk and some degree of confidence in your artistry and craft to make a bold move crossing the border between lyrical songs and modern literature. Imagine if Stephen Foster and Mark Twain spent a few months collaborating on lyrics and music. Well, to be honest, that could be a disaster. But it could also be brilliant. Fortunately, in this case the latter is true.
Crowell, a veteran hit songwriter and solo artist, collaborates here with noted best-selling author and poet Mary Karr. At this point in their careers, both are in peak form. They are skilled, efficient and effective wordsmiths. But what could be a train wreck of lyrical overload becomes an energetic, often inspired album of songs looking at the interior life of Southern culture.
The imagery and lyrics at times seems like the best of Rodney Crowell with sudden twists and flashes of Flannery O’Conner coloring the lyrical landscape. Add to this a number of guest artists providing pitch perfect solos on songs that seem to be crafted to them and you have an album fine enough to listen to on your screened front porch with sweet-tea and guitar in hand.
The opening track,”Anything But Tame,” jump starts the listener into their world with lyrics like:
“I don’t want to be chained down
I don’t want to tread regret
I thought I’d make excuses for the way I’ve come up lame
It should have been enough to live this off the cuff
on the cutting edge of nowhere
where the sun goes down in flames
Anything but tame.”
Lee Ann Womack gives a funky, soulful kick to the tale of southern family woe on “Mama’s on a Roll,” bringing to mind early Everly Brothers.
“Long Time Girl” gives Emmylou Harris a beautiful velvet-like lyric and melody to embrace with her unique voice. Norah Jones comes clean with a sassy attitude on the playful lyrics to “If The Law Don’t Want You.”
A brilliant vocal casting turn is found on “My Father’s Advice,” giving the chorus to Kristofferson to illustrate the story of an old man’s common-sense advice to his son. You can feel Kris’ smile as he sings, “if you find someone who loves you son, go on and give it a whirl.”
Rosanne Cash’s track shines as she sings lyrics of compassion and empathy on “Sister Oh Sister.” There is utter simplicity and clarity on “Hungry for Home,” a song of longing for the comforts of Southern raising. One of the best vocals and songs on Kin is “Just Pleasing You,” which gives Vince Gill the chance to go as woeful and lonesome as Hank Williams at his best. This one makes you long for more collaborations from Crowell and Gill.
The music stays close to the acoustic bone with a lively production that is both bright and present. Collaborations like Kin have been rare in the past. The strange mix of Dylan and Sam Shepard, while interesting, didn’t exactly induce anyone to ask for more. But this one straddles that fine line between pop and art. It is that rare collaboration between two well-known artists, already established in separate fields, that delivers an unqualified success.
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