SOMETHING TO SAY
By Earle Hitchner
ehitchner@irishecho.com

A while back I wrote about Boston-based fiddler, banjoist, and singer Eric Merrill's ability and affinity for Irish traditional, American old-timey, and original, roots-oriented music on his solo CD, "The Western Star." He plays fiddle and five-string banjo on "The Art of Virtue," a solo CD by Tallahassee-born, Nashville resident Adrienne Young that will be officially issued next month on AddieBelle Records/Virtual Label (Ryko).

If virtue is its own reward, then "The Art of Virtue" offers many of them. Written by Young and Will Kimbrough and featuring two former members of the John Whelan Band, Eric Merrill and guitarist Flynn Cohen, the title track provides a gospel-flecked, old-timey-charged, contemporary folk melody for some refreshingly clear-eyed sentiments in these politically spin-cycle times.

In one verse she sings, "I'd like to learn some moderation / Know just when enough's enough / Meditate on being tranquil / Injure none and bear no grudge." Elsewhere in the song Young sings, "I'm waitin' for the real thing, honey / Ain't nothin' wrong with chastity." >From the noisy partisanship of politics and religiosity, she reclaims a simple conviction in self, uttered without any trace of sanctimony or self-righteousness.

This is an album of conscience and conscientious musicianship. On the inside of the tray card Young reprints a "1660 Declaration from the Harmless and Innocent People of God, Called Quakers," a statement of pacifist belief linked to "the Spirit of God, by which we are guided." And in her song "Walls of Jericho," Young sings about "a rich man's scheme using poor boy's dreams / To fight the fight / How far will we go pretending we don't know / What is wrong and right." Not many songs broadcast on MTV, VH1, TBN, and country music channels take that tack.

Young shows a cheerier, more buoyant side to her music when she plays clawhammer-style, five-string banjo with Merrill on fiddle, Cohen on guitar, and Steven Sandifer on bones in "Bonaparte's Retreat/My Love Is in America." The first tune is an old-timey melody borrowed from the Irish tradition, while the second tune remains a popular staple in the Irish tradition.

Her humor, which can be libidinally witty, percolates in "Wedding Rings," a Cajun-flavored song she wrote with Mark Sanders that begins:
"Well I went downtown to a jewelry store / Just a window shopping, that's all / Lady asked me what I was lookin' for / I said 'a fella 'bout six feet tall.'"

Bluegrass licks lace "Farther Along/Billy in the Low Ground" and "Jump the Broom," the latter featuring Del McCoury Band members Mike Bub on bass and Rob McCoury on banjo. The song "My Love Will Keep" treads a more country-pop path that still conveys heartfelt emotion amid all the charm. And in a pleasant surprise, Young tackles a Grateful Dead song, "Brokedown Palace," wringing an elegiac soulfulness from it to conclude her new album, due out on June 28.

The causes and concerns Adrienne Young takes up in her songs would probably fall on wax-filled ears if the quality of her music were anything less than skilled and engaging. She has no need to worry. It is both.

Visit www.adrienneyoung.com for more about this singer, songwriter, banjoist, guitarist, and spoons player of unusual sense and sensibility.