I woke up to some great news this Sunday morning in the form of an advance stream of the new Gillian Welch album.  The Harrow and the Harvest is Gillian’s first in 8 years, is finds the songwriting duo of Welch and David Rawlings recapturing some old magic with 10 great new tracks.  Why the long gap in recording?  Welch said her and Rawlings had what amounts to almost decade long writer’s block, and had a hard time matching the high standards of their earlier work.  Rather than rush out something substandard, they waited until the muse struck them and made sure they got it right.

Now that they have met their high standards, I’m certainly ready to jump onboard. After a few listens to “The Harrow and the Harvest”, I have to say I am kind of blown away.  These two just do what they do so unbelievably well, it almost seems perfect.   While I doubt that this is much of a cross over record, fans of country folk & bluegrass music will be smiling and humming along to this one for the foreseeable future.  This one has already been the soundtrack of a really good weekend, and I have plans to keep it spinning for more good times ahead.

The Harrow and the Harvest will be released tomorrow, and will be streaming on NPR’s first listen for the rest of the week.  Check it out and enjoy.