When one reads the press release, one just has to wonder how Dan Emery managed to record this. Guitarist/vocalist Benjamin Tod and fiddle player Ashley Mae had been working on their farm all day, then drove the few hours it took to get to the studio, to find that Dan’s dog, Ichi, was literally on her deathbed. Ichi had been at every Benjamin Tod and Lost Dog Street Band session over the previous fifteen years, but at 17 it was the end of the road and she died not long after the session was completed. Dan said, “I made her a comfortable spot with me while Benjamin and Ashley were outside, and just laid with her and cried the whole night. A fucking bomb could have exploded in the yard, and I wouldn’t have cared any more or less. Benjamin and Ashley basically pulled all of us through the entire night. Had it not been for their professionalism, and ability to keep the train on the tracks while mine was very much derailing, I probably would have just thrown in the towel on the entire project right there.”

Benjamin and Ashley feel music is to be heard in the traditional way, and after putting in the effort during the day, here they were recording their songs in the night as if they were just playing for some friends with beers and a campfire for company. Given what was happening in front of them it is impossible to believe they were not impacted, yet they kept it together as they produced a wonderful album of bluegrass and traditional American folk songs. I have long been a massive fan of this series, and this is yet another very special event captured outside with the cicadas for company. “Moonshiner” finds them in acapella harmony, while others find Ashley providing the fiddle against Benjamin’s banjo or guitar, creating a very special sound indeed. This series of albums has always been about capturing the moment (and there is often a gunshot to be heard somewhere in the background), playing outside under the tree and just pressing the record button and never resorting to any studio trickery. Here we have two musicians who revel in this situation, not allowing their emotions to get in the way, and ensuring the result is something which is very special indeed.

As with all the albums in the series, I find myself being taken back in time to when music was performed by travelling troubadours, and Lost Dog Street Band take that to another level. This is a wonderful performance of great songs, and if you enjoy acoustic Americana then it rarely gets any better than this. Dedicated to Ichi, this is yet another essential album.

Rating: 9/10

Links:
https://lostdogstreetband.com
https://anticorporatemusic.com