A while back I read accolades from Emmylou Harris and Buddy Miller about a guy named Doug Seegers. Their praise was quite glowing, and coming from them really means something. So I got his Going Down To The River album (CD only). Oh baby, Emmylou and Buddy are SO right! He sounds like he's been playing roadhouses, honkytonks, bars, and dance halls for decades---and he has. Buddy wrote the liner notes for the album (telling Doug's story. They've known each other since the early 70's), and they are the best I've ever read.
The music is 100 proof American Roots Music---Hard Country, Bluegrass, Southern (not Chicago) Blues, and all great. The material is excellent, all his own songs save for two---"There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight" by Hank Williams, and "She" by Gram Parsons and Chris Ethridge (from their time in The Flying Burrito Brothers), an incredible song that sounds like The Everly Brothers could have done it. Emmylou sings it with Doug almost as a duet. Fanf*ckingtastic!
The musicians are all world class artists; acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar (the guitarist makes the low string absolutely growl!), dobro, mandolin, pedal steel guitar, fiddle, upright and electric bass, drums, organ, and sax. Phew! If you've dipped your feet in the Americana scene, getting albums by youngin's who have only fairly recently started playing Country music (and sound like it), do yourself a huge favor and GET THIS ALBUM!
