Big Iron World (CD - 2006)

Personnel: Ketcham Secor (vocals, guitar, fiddle, harmonica); Kevin Hayes , Willie Watson (vocals, guitar); Critter Fuqua (vocals, slide guitar, banjo); David Rawlings (12-string guitar); Morgan Jahnig (upright bass); Gillian Welch (drums).

Recording information: Woodland Sound Studios, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Lewis Hine.

The Nashville bluegrass band's second album, which is produced by David Rawlings and features the alt country artist Gillian Welch on drums, is a collection whose sepia-toned lyrics lament the passing of hallowed old habits and customs. Tracks like the Depression-era "Let It Alone" conjure a bygone era when peoples' lives were naturally intertwined, and the band does its best to preserve equally ancient songs, like the political rallying cry of "Union Maid" and the raucous 1920s jug band hit "Cocaine Habit," for the present generation of country listeners. The set's timeless quality is heightened as much by the Old Crow Medicine Show's determinedly old-world attitudes to performance as by its traditional instrumentation and its singers' authentic-sounding voices. minimize