Eight years ago, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings released the exploratory and occasionally misunderstood Soul Journey, where Welch took a more directly personal stance in her writing as the duo injected a shade more vitality (and electricity) into their old-time musical presentation. Maybe the album’s mixed reviews negatively impacted Welch, or maybe her creative well was lowered by a quartet of excellent albums over a seven-year period. In any event, Welch was beset by writer’s block that short-circuited every attempt to craft a follow-up. The trend was reversed in 2009 when the pair switched spots on the marquee and released the well-received A Friend of a Friend as the “Dave Rawlings Machine.”
Subjugating her role in the partnership must have been just the tonic for Welch, because The Harrow and the Harvest stands with the best of their work together. Like Soul Journey, The Harrow and the Harvest finds Welch writing as a more active participant rather than detached observer, like the melancholy heartbreak victim in “Dark Turn of Mind” or the hard love/hard luck girl in “Tennessee.”
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This article appears in Aug 17-23, 2011.
