Shine A Light: Field Recordings From The Great American Railroad<\/em>
\nSometimes the simple ideas are best. For this album, Billy Bragg and Joe Henry hopped aboard a train from Chicago to Los Angeles and recorded blues and folk staples from \u201cJohn Henry\u201d and Lead Belly\u2019s \u201cThe Midnight Special\u201d to John Hartford\u2019s \u201cGentle On My Mind\u201d on platforms and waiting rooms. It\u2019s two voices and two guitars, recorded live. Billy takes the low, Joe takes the high, and their voices blend beautifully. You can hear the trains pulling in and people milling about the platforms around them. Wind blows over the mics before anyone sings a word on Hank Williams Sr.\u2019s \u201cLonesome Whistle,\u201d and it\u2019s easy to picture the two singers outside the station, playing side-by-side to no one in particular. Their harmonies add a bit of sweetness to Lead Belly\u2019s \u201cIn the Pines.\u201d That takes some of the menace out of it, but emphasizes the loneliness at its core. Henry\u2019s voice reinvigorates \u201cGentle On My Mind,\u201d and Bragg sounds natural singing Jean Ritchie\u2019s coal miner\u2019s lament \u201cThe L&N Don\u2019t Stop Here Anymore.\u201d <\/p>\n