WELCH & RAWLINGS: together on the bookshelf

WELCH & RAWLINGS: CLASS ACT

By Norman Warwick

Gillian Welch is a singer-songwriter, and David Rawlings plays Appalachian music & Bluegrass music, and together they create and play Americana music. Their recordings include Revival (Gillian Welch album) and Time The Revelator. 

Yesterday, in our article, we looked at Woodland the new album from Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings. High time, then, that we pointed you in the direction of a comprehensive tome that reviews the careers as perceived and told by the music press, the solo journeys and eventual collaborations and the album releases of both Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings as solo artists and as a duo.

Time The Revelator is a playlist favourite of mine.

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Gillian Howard Welch (born October 2, 1967 in New York City) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style combines elements of Appalachian music, bluegrass, and Americana described by The New Yorker “as at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms”. Welch and Rawlings have released four critically acclaimed albums. Their 1996 debut, Revival and the 2001 release Time (The Revelator) received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Their most recent album is the 2003 release Soul Journey, which introduces electric guitar, drums and a more upbeat sound to their body of work. Welch was an associate producer and performed on two songs for the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, a bestselling platinum album that won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002. Throughout her career, Welch has collaborated and recorded with several distinguished musicians, including Alison Krauss, Ryan Adams, Jay Farrar, Emmylou Harris, and Mark Knopfler. In addition, Welch and Rawlings perform at many notable music festivals.

The, new album Woodland will surely join Time The Revelator, with tracks undoubtedly bound for the Sound Collections playlist being published monthly in Sidetracks & Detours.