Swiftly following on the heels of
Paint This Town,
Jubilee effectively acts as a simultaneous continuation and counterpoint to that 2022 album. Where
Ketch Secor had
Old Crow Medicine Show tackle politically timely concerns on
Paint This Town,
Jubilee focuses on universal themes, drawing on a variety of American folk traditions and singing about subjects old as time: love, loss, mending fences, and getting messed up. Purposefully ragged, the record switches between wistful ballads and careening rave-ups, occasionally lingering in the spaces separating the two.
Old Crow Medicine Show hasn't left heavier social issues behind yet the emphasis is how a joyful noise is the thread that connects people of different backgrounds. To that end, Old Crow invites a number of guests into the studio, chief among them soul legend
Mavis Staples, who helps give the rousing "One Drop" a spiritual lift.
Sierra Ferrell stops by for "Belle Meade Cockfight," a cornpone saga that might be the silliest moment on the record but hardly the only moment of outright humor. "Wolfman of the Ozarks" and "Keel Over and Die" are whiplash bluegrass numbers, "I Want It Now" is rollicking blues boogie and they're all eclipsed by the vaudevillian shuffle "Shit Kicked In." Despite the preponderance of lighter tunes, the heart of the record lies in "Miles Away," a bittersweet reminiscence
Secor co-wrote with
Molly Tuttle and sings with
Willie Watson, a founding
Old Crow Medicine Show member who left years ago whose presence gives the song deep emotional resonance. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
