Dream Rich, Dirt Poor
Organic, 2021
8/10
Listen to Dream Rich, Dirt Poor
The North Carolina singer-songwriter Aaron Burdett has been plugging away for quite awhile now and has accumulated an impressive catalog of music. Here he’s joined by an all star cast of studio musicians for a career highlight that mixes progressive roots, bluegrass and folk ideas into a working class themed listen.
“Dirt Poor” starts the listen with Burdett’s smooth, melodic singing alongside his warm acoustic guitar playing and David Johnson’s stirring fiddle prowess, and “Loser’s Bracket” follows with a harmonic display of rural rock that welcomes Derek Vaden’s banjo and Daniel Ullom’s mandolin as bluegrass nods are very much in attendance.
Landing near the middle, “Working Class” benefits from Tony Creasman’s precise percussion as vivid storytelling from Burdett unfolds with some grit in the very tuneful climate, while the swift “Rockefeller” is a busy, rootsy album highlight that showcases Johnson’s banjo acrobatics. “Written In Red” then displays much beauty in a poetic, sublime setting.
Close to the end, “I Won The Fight” emits some folk influences in the very pretty duet where Kim France’s pipes add much beauty, and “Too Far From Home” exits the listen with meticulous mandolin and strategic upright bass thanks to Jon Weisberger.
Burdett has been making some big waves with 3 tunes from this album charting and “Dirt Poor” and “Loser’s Bracket” even landing at #1. The listen as a whole is consistently great, and should further cement him as one of the best in today’s bluegrass scene.
Travels well with: Zoe & Cloyd- I Am Your Neighbor; Jeremy Garrett- Circles