Tennessee Pusher - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
Old Crow Medicine Show release in 2008 their third Nettwerk album called Tennessee Pusher. Produced by the legendary Don Was (Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, the Rolling Stones), the album features the first single "Caroline" along with 11 other Old Crow originals and an American standard called "Lift Him Up" by Blind Alfred Reed. Having sold over 290K albums, OCMS can attribute much of their success to their relentless touring schedule. Between headlining shows and countless festivals (Bonnaroo, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, New Orleans Jazz Festival, etc), the band lives on the road - they thrive on the communal experience of the live shows. OCMS have made a name for themselves as energetic performers with an unbridled spirit."as musicians, songwriters and singers, they are the smartest and finest purveyors of American music to come down the pike in decades." - Don Was

Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Best OCMS Yet September 27, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I have listened to this album about 40 times since I first got it about 2 days ago, and it is excellent. Granted, it is somewhat of a departure from the eponymous OCMS first album, but it seems to me to be a progression, through Big Iron World and into Tennessee Pusher. They have matured, and aged their sound, sanding off some rough edges but the music remains passionate and moving.

It also sounds like the new producer and better mixing has created a deeper and higher quality sound. I really like the whole effect on every song. In prior albums I sometimes felt like that guy stuck standing right next to the fiddle speaker, and on the next song, the vocals. The songs cover a good range of moods, from the frolicking Caroline (one of my favorites amongst all bands for a while) and the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle humour of Mary's Kitchen to the soulful and mournful Tennessee Pusher and Hotel in Memphis. I don't think there's a weak song on here.

I love this disc, but I am ready for a change. On play 41, I'm switching it to shuffle play.

4 out of 5 stars

A Solid Studio Effort from this great Live Band September 26, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Like many people, I first became entranced by the Old Crow Medicine Show after seeing them live, which is like being hit by a baseball bat. Live, these boys knock you out, with their performance energy, with the quality of the songs, and with the general feeling you take away, like you just saw something that is connected palpably to a time in the past before TV, before CDs, before radio even. I think it's a compliment of the highest order to say that an OCMS live show is almost 'punk' in it's energy; you feel like you are on a street corner, watching them play for money to live on (which they used to do) or in a dance hall at an indeterminate point in history, watching them play because playing was keeping them and everybody in the audience alive. People who have seen that live know that I'm not really exaggerating.
Their albums up to this point have always captured that energy. And the reason I am giving them 4 instead of 5 stars is that this is the first album that feels like a studio album. Having said that, I will also say that this is a studio album that was done at the perfect point in their career: not too early, not too late, and the legendary Don Was also seems like the Perfect Producer for this Perfect Time. These boys are serious artists, and this is an album that reflects that. Mind you, it is nowhere near being an 'overproduced' album; all the instrumentation is clean, and you can hear every instrument and that they are (when they are) acoustic.
There is a bit more of a slightly somber feel to the songs as well. Even "Mary's Kitchen", the biggest romp, has a more *controlled* feel than a song like that would have been on the other albums. (Their other two albums were largely just recorded live in the studio, which is a great introduction to OCMS.) It's almost like the influence of Gillian Welch is present, beyond the presence of David Rawlings (who has co-written one of the songs on this album, and produced the last two albums for OCMS.) Just as Gillian Welch (and I mean the 'group' Gillian Welch, composed of Ms. Welch and Mr. Rawlings) has a gravitas to even their most light-hearted songs, and that pull can sometimes be heard on other artists of the same ilk, so too is OCMS influenced by the seriousness of craft of their long-time association w/ Mr. Rawlings in particular and the Quality Americana Music Scene in general.
The addition of Jim Keltner on drums is a telling sign for this album; the long-time string band aversion to a drummers notwithstanding, the presence of this Session Veteran here feels like an organic fit. OCMS has a habit of being genre-defying, but this time that is especially true; it's really hard to pin them down as Americana, Folk, Bluegrass or even Country. It's all just Good Music.

5 out of 5 stars

The bar just hit the roof October 2, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I am a big Old Crow fan, but didn't indulge in their newer stuff until last week.

Let me say that I was floored by "Tennessee Pusher." I play bluegrass mandolin in a bluegrass band and love bluegrass and old-time music as much as anyone, but I am glad that these guys blossomed on this CD. It's not the typical Old Crow ram it down your throat fast, old-time medicine show. It's more Bob Dylan and Neil Young than the Skillet Lickers. There are traces of R&B in there too, with a country sound throughout.

If you like Old Crow because they are an old time band you won't like this CD as much. But, just remember that Old Crow isn't really an old time band, and most of the guys are northerners who just love that music. They grew up in the 80s and 90s listening to what was on the radio, then chose their favorite music as they matured. It shows on this CD, and it's the most natural and unforced they've ever sounded.

I love it because it's a collection of finely crafted songs that reflect themes faced by young people today. I can also actually believe what they are singing about, instead of just getting hyped by these young guys doing an old thing fast and sublimely reckless.

The Old Crow Medicine Show has matured, and the result is a masterpiece.

5 out of 5 stars

Awesome Album September 25, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

If you like OCMS, you will really love this album. A little slower
than the first 2 offerings, but one hell of an CD. Buy it today!

5 out of 5 stars

Back To New Orleans? September 25, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

What happened to the cut Back To New Orleans? A great song that was sold as a preview single to this CD

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