A staple of the Yep Roc roster since 2005, North Carolina's Chatham County Line
often get labeled as a bluegrass act, though that's only a small part
of what they do. More than anything, they're an Americana string band
focused around the subtle songwriting talents of singer/guitarist Dave Wilson, who also acts as producer on Autumn, the group's eighth LP. In the album's press release, Wilson
compares his band to both an old bowling alley and a hardware store in
that they reliably deliver a familiar experience that keeps customers
coming back year after year. It's self-deprecating, for sure, but Chatham County Line are anything but flashy, and they are certainly reliable in terms of quality and tone. For a string band album titled Autumn,
they deliver exactly what you'd want: a nuanced selection of warm,
earthy music replete with gentle guitar picking, woody mandolin, muted
banjo, occasional piano, and a robust vocal blend to evoke the wistful
changing of the season. A rich inner language can be felt between Wilson and his colleagues John Teer (mandolin, fiddle), Chandler Holt (banjo, vocal), and Greg Readling
(bass, piano, pedal steel, organ) whose parts all dovetail perfectly in
the casual kind of way that comes from years of collaborating together.
Instead of coming out of the gate at a sprint, they open with "You Are
My Light," an early highlight with an underpinning of late-year darkness
in its slinky midtempo hook. The maritime-themed "Siren Song," another
strong cut, is imbued with a timeless comfort that belies its fine
craft. In fact, the band's amiable delivery often draws attention away
from their effortless compositions and arrangements to the point that
they can occasionally come across as unassuming. It's once again the
autumnal darkness that pulls them into sharper focus on the standout
"Moving Pictures of My Mind," a haunting ballad whose very essence
conjures up the chillier, lonesome side of their album's title.
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