REVIVAL

Personnel: Gillian Welch (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars); David Rawlings (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, Optigan, 6-string bass); Jay J. Joyce (electric guitar, E-bow); James Burton (electric guitar, National steel guitar); Greg Leisz (dobro, Weissenborn); John R. Hughey (pedal steel guitar); T-Bone Burnett (Optigan); Armando Campean (acoustic & electric basses); Roy Huskey, Jr. (acoustic bass); Buddy Harman, Jim Keltner (drums). Engineers include: David Knight, Rick Will, Rik Pekkonen. Recorded at Sunset Sound, Oceanway and Sound Factory, Hollywood, California; Woodland Digital, Nashville, Tennessee. REVIVAL was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. The debut album by Gillian Welch is aptly titled. In an alt-country scene primarily focused on adapting the sound and feeling of old-time traditional country to its own ends, this singer-songwriter, along with her ever-present musical partner David Rawlings, is more interesting in taking the sound of the Carter Family and transplanting it whole into the middle of the 1990s. T-Bone Burnett produced the album with such a sharp eye towards period authenticity that even the occasional modern musical elements (bits of electric guitar and drums, and keyboards) sound of a piece. The songwriting is uniformly excellent, with mature, emotionally resonant songs like "Orphan Girl" sitting comfortably next to such bluesy character pieces as "Tear My Stillhouse Down." Although Welch's future albums would maintain this high level of quality, REVIVAL is an impressive debut of a richly talented singer and songwriter.