Heirloom Music

Preferring to call it “heirloom” rather than “old-timey” music, Jimmie Dale Gilmore here performs 14 gems from the 1930s and ‘40s written by folk, country, and bluegrass giants like Charlie Poole, the Carter Family, Bill Monroe, and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Gilmore’s style, his command of roots music, and especially his warm, weathered, and warbling voice is backed beautifully on guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and bass by the Wronglers, a string band led by banjoist Warren Hellman, founder of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco. Gilmore and the band approach these chestnuts with reverence, skill, and joy, honoring the folk tradition while pushing it forward with their own arrangements. Gilmore’s distinct and expressive West Texas twang is an ideal match for both mournful songs like “Time Changes Everything,” “I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes,” and “In the Pines” as well as more playful numbers like “Way Downtown” and “Leavin’ Home,” as the Wronglers add sweet harmonies and tasty fills throughout. Gilmore sounds right at home performing these old songs from the folk canon. A loving tribute done well.