CD Review: CHRIS THILE & MICHAEL DAVES

by Aaron Davis for Jackson Hole Weekly (PlanetJH.com)Sleep with One Eye Open CHRIS THILE & MICHAEL DAVES Walking up to the Targhee Bluegrass stage a few years back, I heard a high lonesome tenor much like that of Bill Monroe, and it seriously struck me. At the time, Michael Daves was fronting Tony Trischka’s all-star band. Daves is certainly the lesser known of this duo, a combo that puts an exclamation point on progressive, virtuoso bluegrass pickin’. Though a set of old-time, traditional and bluegrass standards—including two Bill Monroe and two Lester Flatt tunes as well as a Flatt and Scruggs number—the feel is adventurous punk-grass. Once you hear the instrumental fireworks of “Rabbit in the Log” and “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” envision this duo huddled around one microphone, just letting it fly in Jack White’s Nashville studio. Despite no original material here, this is one of the most interesting bluegrass discs I’ve heard in a while. Some of the tempos are so pushed, one fears derailment, but is left instead with just anxiety and awe. I look forward to a sophomore effort that pushes pen to paper.