Waking Up
Self-Released, 2023
8/10
The Memphis jamgrass wizards Graber Gryass return with their 3rd album, where 9 tunes penned by Michael Graber make for a diverse landscape that welcomes plenty of strings, brass and vocals.
“All The Time” opens the listen with cozy call and response vocals, where Andy Ratliff’s swift fiddle and Jesse Dakota’s lively percussion suit the swift bluegrass climate, and “Morning On The Water” follows with a calmer spirit that benefits from Kitty Dearing’s soulful vocals and Clint Wagner’s emotive fiddle playing.
“Waking Up” and “Living On A Faultline” land in the middle, where the former welcomes Hope Clayburn’s dreamy flute for the highly intimate landscape, while the latter recruits sax from Clayburn for the superbly textured, funky album highlight.
Near to the end, “Okay” lands in timeless folk territory with its warm strumming, and “Faultline” exits with group vocals that illustrates much chemistry between the members, where Randal Morton’s banjo is particularly luminous.
A highly creative effort that meshes jam band ideas, bluegrass, folk, funk and Americana, Graber Gryass are paving a path entirely their own, and it’s just getting better and better with each release.
Travels well with: Mighty Poplar- Mighty Poplar; Arkansauce- OK To Wonder