I Can Go To Them
Pinecastle, 2021
9/10
Few artists will ever be as consistently great as Lorraine Jordan And Carolina Road, and here they bring us an all-Gospel album with 12 new recordings.
“Going Up” leads the listen with their flowing string work and soaring vocal harmonies sounding as grand as ever, where Jordan’s mandolin is particularly luminous, and “Brush Arbors” follows with no shortage of melody as baritone vocals take focus amid Matt Hooper’s sublime fiddle.
Deeper into the listen, “Jesus Hold My Hand” displays timeless bluegrass with plenty of gospel spirit in the warm climate, while “I Heard My Mother Call My Name In Prayer” trims the pace back with sublime beauty in the bare, folk influenced landscape. “Further Along”, one of the album’s best, then pairs expressive singing with bouts of swift strings as guitar from Allen Dyer and Joe Pessolano don’t disappoint.
Approaching the end, “I Cannot Bring Them Back (But I Can Go To Them)” offers an a cappella track with a tremendous amount of stirring, somewhat haunting singing as the band show that they can shine sans strings, too, and “Traveling The Highway Home” exits the listen with their trademark string interaction sounding as precise as ever, and it sure does benefit from Ben Greene’s banjo acrobatics.
An album dedicated to the Carolina Road member’s mothers, this might be their most heartfelt outing yet, and it’s not be missed for fans of bluegrass, gospel and mountain flavored song craft.
Travels well with: Daryl Mosley- Small Town Dreamer; Merle Monroe- Songs Of A Simple Life