Wil Hodge and Shelia Quattlebaum present 10 vivid stories about life in the American countryside with their CD "Backwoods Loveosine." 
  
While song lyrics today are often little more than filler for melody, Hodge and Quattlebaum (aka, "Applewood") have crafted a series of evocative, believable images from everyday life. The title cut is a coming-of-age story of passion in an abandoned car. A rocky country beat, adorned ably with electric slide guitar, provides a backdrop for Quattlebaum's raw vocal. 
   
Hodge and Quattlebaum follow the title cut with "Nothin' As Lonely," a bluesy, front-porch number with a mandolin chop moving things along. Its melody and pathos may remind some listeners of the familiar "Man of Constant Sorrow" popularized in the film "O, Brother, Where Art Thou." 
  
This bluegrass feel permeates the CD and reaches a pinnacle with " Momma Left the Radio On."  Penned by Hodge, the song features plenty of down-home sawing on the fiddle, mandolin picking and a tribute to Momma -- the one who muted life's harshness by keeping music playing in her house. 
  
This CD does a fine job of mixing electric elements with bluegrass and country flavors. Both Hodge and Quattlebaum sing from the soul. But the real draw of this CD is the storytelling. For example, the somber, dobro-laden "Horses" describes a small town succumbing to financial ruin. Factories close, a church sells off its stained glass and Hodge invites listeners to buy his horses for a dollar apiece.
  
The songs all reside in the same genre, but each has a distinct color and texture. It's a half hour or so of pure Americana -- down some dirt roads, beside a turbulent river, and even inside a discarded Cadillac on cement blocks. Well worth a listen.
                            Read more...