CD of the Week Dec.24-30, 2000

Onward Through It All-Jim Lauderdale

RCA

This album didn't show up on my "Best of 1999" list when I wrote it, but that is only because I hadn't yet heard it at the time. Jim Lauderdale is a singer-songwriter who is better known for writing hits for others than for his own recording career. Jim has written for all sorts of mainstream country stars including George Strait and the Dixie Chicks and he is well liked and respected within Nashville's musical community, but relatively unknown to the outside world. That is a shame because he is not only a great songwriter, but also an amazing singer who surely interprets his own songs better than anybody else.

Onward Through It All is Lauderdale's most recent solo album, although he has more recently released a duet album with Ralph Stanley called I Feel Like Singing Today. There are 16 songs on this latest disc and everyone of them is a gem. Lauderdale understands the conventions of country music so well that he can employ them in such a way as to make a song that you have never heard before sound like an old favorite. This is not to say that these songs are derivitive or faceless. Lauderdale singing voice is great and the arrangements are stellar. Julie and Buddy Miller as well mandolinist David Grisman sit in on various cuts, but Lauderdale is the center of the disc. His writing runs the gamut between aching ballads like "I Already Loved You" to rockers like "Still Not Out of the Woods". His subject matter is often more philosophical than your average fare on cuts like "Understanding Everything" and "Trust(Guiding Star)the latter of which is a collaboration with Grateful Dead lyricist, Robert Hunter.

Unfortunatley, Lauderdale seems to tour infrequently which may be part of the reason he is largely unknown, but if you enjoy Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams or just country music with integrity be sure to check out this excellent release

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