Review by Bill Yates, Roots66.com

The delightful Adrienne Young and Little Sadie have released their third
album, The Art of Virtue. Their first, Plow to the End of the Row, was
reviewed here and was followed by Just Like Christmas. Young is an
accomplished singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist who with her group,
Little Sadie, and friends such as the ubiquitous Will Kimbrough,
together make a most pleasing sound. The current lineup for Little Sadie
is Eric Merrill (fiddle, banjo), Flynn Cohen (guitar), Eric Platz
(percussion), and Kyle Kegerreis (bass). For this recording, the lineup
was apparently Merrill, Cohen, Sandifer, Grant, and Campbell, although
they are not explicitly named as such.

The album starts out with the Young and Kimbrough's happily danceable
upbeat title tune, "The Art of Virtue." Eric Merrill's fiddle takes off
with a medley of the traditional "Bonaparte's Retreat" and the Irish
tune "My Love Is In America." "Hills & Hollers" recalls the way the area
used to be when she was a child. Young and Kimbrough's "Jump The Broom"
commemorates a tradition created by slaves to mark a wedding ceremony in
the absence of legal authority, which tradition later worked its way
into the mountains. "My Sin Is Pride" is the confession of the lover who
lost his love because of that deadly sin. "My Love Will Keep" is a very
nice love song. "Pretty Ella Arkansas" is based on the grandmother of a
woman Young met at a beauty parlor with some of her own grandmother
thrown in for good measure. "Rastus Russell" was a real, vicious
murderer and Young's grandfather was the sheriff that caught him.

"Wedding Rings" is a dancing song of a lively young woman looking for
the right man. Country music great Uncle Dave Macon wrote "Don't Get
Weary," a nice speedy ditty. "Golden Ticket" is a wonderful fiddle tune
from Eric Merrill. "Walls Of Jericho," another of Young's compositions
contemplates the consequences of a rich man's dream and a poor man's
scheme. Young and Kimbrough sing a duet of their "It's All The Same,"
based on writings from Benjamin Franklin. A fine promising teen-age
group known as Broken Drought joins Young for the traditional gospel
"Farther Along" and the instrumental "Billy In The Low Ground." Jerry
Garcia's wonderful "Brokedown Palace" closes out the album.

The Art of Virtue is a very good album indeed. Adrienne Young is a fine
songwriter and she and Will Kimbrough make a formidable team in this
regard. She is a very good instrumentalist also. Her voice fits the
repetoire well and the selection of songs contributes to the overall
listening experience. The musicians of Little Sadie and the others who
joined them for this album are excellent. Special mention must be made
of fiddler Eric Merrill and the multiple talents of Will Kimbrough. The
young group Broken Drought is notable also. The recorded sound is
excellent. A word must be said about the album packaging, which is in
the tradition of Plow to the End of the Row which earned a Grammy
nomination in 2003. A booklet of The Thirteen Virtues by Benjamin
Franklin is included. Exercise a virtue and choose excellence, choose
The Art of Virtue.


My Favorite Songs: "My Love Will Keep," "The Art of Virtue," "Brokedown
Palace"

Rating: 4-1/2 notes

Copyright 2005 William Theron Yates