In contrast to Orphans Of God, an earlier Mark Heard tribute album, the artists collected for this 2017 album are A) of a piece, and B) carefully marshalled into cohesion by producer Phil Madeira.
A) The Artists. When I first encountered the track list I was familiar with enough of them to recognize a universal bent toward Americana. Heard was contrarian to his core and would likely bristle at being thus pigeon-holed. And, fair enough: his final album was driven by a recent obsession with the electric mandolin and has a track or two that could qualify as Celtic Death Metal (he’s not here to defend himself, but any of his many devoted fans are free to call me out on this). Regardless, the musical vein Heard mined was indeed Americana. To continue the metaphor: sanding down a little of Heard’s aural prickliness burnishes the natural lustre of his work. These were the right people for the job.
B) As was producer Phil Madeira. The album is a finely wrought whole — an outstanding anomaly among tribute albums. A handful of tracks graduated immediately to my current playlists — Birds of Chicago, Lily & Madeleine, The North Mississippi All Stars, Buddy Miller and Over the Rhine are particularly stellar interpreters. But there is not one track I would ever dream of cutting from this line-up. I enjoy listening to this album from beginning to end.
This might just be the best possible introduction to the music of Mark Heard. Or, for those who never quite cottoned to his voice and delivery, it might be the best vehicle with which to consider his work. It is, finally, a lovely and perfectly tailored tribute to a challenging and sometimes difficult artist.
Further links: I have meditated on Mark Heard before, here and here. The Christian Humanists devoted a podcast to exploring a (dubiously edited) “Best Of” album over here and Michial Farmer surveys the Mark Heard catalogue here. And I am indebted to movie critic Christian Hamaker for introducing me to this album.
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