CLARKESTON, Mich. ('O Brother' Website) - The honest passion behind the Coen Brothers flick
O Brother, Where Art Thou? and T-Bone Burnett's six-time platinum, five-time GRAMMY? Awards winning soundtrack was in full swing at the Down from the Mountain show Wednesday (June 26) at DTE
Energy Music Center in Clarkeston, Mich.
On this second date of the tour's second leg, the country-bluegrass-folk stylings of Emmylou Harris, the Del McCoury Band, Patty Loveless, and Alison Krauss & Union Station - and host Rodney Crowell - reminded the crowd of 10,000 for three hours that this music is "an important part of your American musical heritage."
The sun glossed the crowd and stage during the impressively tight 90-minute first set. The Nashville Bluegrass Band practically served as the house band, delivering its own "Po' Lazarus" to open the show. Later, the group foot-stomped its way with Norman Blake on the honeyed hobo anthem "Big Rock Candy Mountain."
Dan Tyminski - "the man who made George Clooney sound really great," according to Krauss -- united with his Soggy Bottom Boys, the Nashville Bluegrass Band's Pat Enright and Stuart Duncan for the high-lonesome three-part harmonies of "I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow." Chris Thomas King, who played Tommy Johnson in the film, turned the mood and swaggered in with the smoky blues strut of "John Law Burned Down the Liquor Sto'."
Rodney Crowell |
Down From the Mountain's undeniable appeal features an eclectic traveling troupe of contributors and fresh faces. Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, who aren't included on the soundtrack, were electrifying with "Rank Strangers" and "Uncle Pen," but the sharp-dressed men of the evening were the Del McCoury Band and its gospel-tinged "Get Down on Your Knees and Pray." Even sharper was the sweetheart of the rodeo, Emmylou Harris. Decked in a peachy-red sundress, Harris was a vocal angel with "The Other Side of Life" and Loretta Lynn's "Blue Kentucky Girl." "We're a regular cornucopia," Crowell exclaimed.
Crowell stepped up to the mike for a mid-tempo acoustic version of "In the Jailhouse Now." With the sun setting and dark hues of red and blue decorating the background, new and old music enthusiasts couldn't stop cheering. Patty Loveless' rootsy-rock heightened the excitement with her banjo-driven romp "Pretty Little Miss." She proclaimed Ralph Stanley the "Father of Mountain Soul" as he took the stage for the show's conclusion.
From the creaking spirits of "O Death" to his jovial duet with Loveless on "Pretty Polly," Stanley proved that nostalgia is best. The cast closed the show with a joyous rendition of the Stanley Brothers' "Angel Land" and "Amazing Grace." It was truly a testament to the breath of bluegrass music.
