Album Review: Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain – CHHR2

Jim Malec | August 7th, 2008 Email Share

Carrie Hassler and Hard Rain - CHHR 2Energetic and crisp, CHHR 2 is a hard-driving bluegrass album that showcases one of the most talented and imaginative sets of musicians in the genre today. From the album’s opening number, the beautifully sentimental “I Can Go Back Anytime,” Josh Miller’s relentless banjo carves out a sound that strikes a brilliant balance between traditional and progressive, while Jamie Harper’s fiddle underscores a series of tracks that sound familiar but which can only be described as undeniably fresh.

It is that freshness which distinguishes Hard Rain from its contemporaries. Bluegrass can quickly wane from engaging to stale, from exhilarating to repetitive, and its arrangements often feel like generations-old retreads. So-called Progressive Bluegrass (or ‘Newgrass’) attempts to address this, but incorporating electric instruments and typically un-bluegrass arrangements and musical structures often results in a sound that is so far removed from its roots that it hardly sounds like bluegrass at all.

Therein is the artistic genius of CHHR 2: while Hard Rain may be classified as a Progressive Bluegrass band, its sophomore album generally adheres to the genre’s musical traditions while, at the same time, packing just enough twists and turns to keep things from getting boring. Even more importantly, the individual tracks themselves are so well delineated that each retains its own character and remains uniquely identifiable. “Fickle Heart,” with its persistent banjo track, stands in firm contrast to the nearly mainstream-country “Country Strong,” which is the antithesis of the mournful “If These Walls Could Talk.”

That strong diversity makes for a thoroughly enjoyable album–even though lead singer Hassler’s vocals sometimes feel out of sync with the instrumentation.

Hassler is no hack of a vocalist by any means–she sings with confidence and a high degree of technical proficiency. Indeed, she sounds great on CHHR 2. The trouble is, she just doesn’t sound especially country, and she especially doesn’t sound very bluegrass. Rich and engaging though her voice may be, it possesses not a single drop of high lonesome.

When she sings “I’m country strong, hard to break/Like the ground I grew up on,” her diction is clear and precise, her tones are smooth, her pronunciation is unaccented, and it just doesn’t mesh with the message of the song or with the music which surrounds it. In the midst of a flurry of acoustic, hillbilly music, Hassler often sounds like an out of place suburbanite.

There are two songs on the album in which this effect is particularly drawn out. “I Don’t Want to Wake Up,” which finds the narrator struggling with a cancer diagnosis, and “Stranger in his Mind,” a ballad about living with a spouse who has Alzheimer’s, are both smartly written, and both provide CHHR 2 with a portion of the overall contrast which makes the record so artistically intriguing. At the same time, however, those themes are not typically bluegrass (or typically country), and they emphasize the fact that Hassler sounds more like a folk singer than a bluegrass singer; that she would be more suited to a coffee shop stage than a back-porch jam.

That is not to say that a bluegrass or country singer’s voice must be bathed in twang, or that the material and themes of those genres are, or should be, limited in scope to a narrow list of accepted ideas. To the contrary, Hassler and her band deserve a great deal of credit for making such an adventurous record, and for daring to tackle such tough, outside-the-framework topics.

And although Hassler’s voice may not ooze country like Alison Krauss, that doesn’t hamper its ability to effectively convey emotion–which it does successfully throughout.

3 Stars

Recommended Tracks: “I Can Go Back Anytime“, “Fickle Heart“, “Devil’s Den

Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain on MySpace

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  1. [...] Out of the nine albums I commented on two weeks ago, I have so far had the opportunity (or the inclination) to review only one–Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain’s CHHR 2. You can read the review over at The 9513. [...]

  2. [...] CHHR2 was produced by Grammy® nominated and Mountain Heart band member, Jim VanCleve who was thrilled to hear the news of the Billboard debut: “It is very interesting and exciting to see how rapidly Carrie and the band have progressed since we recorded their first project. This project displays a versatility, maturity, and focus that is not often seen in a band just entering their third year. They came in on this project with some really good material, and I think we were able to get the most out of everything we tried. This album covers a lot of really exciting musical ground, and I am happy to see it being received so well at retail!” “Energetic and crisp, CHHR 2 is a hard-driving bluegrass album that showcases one of the most talented and imaginative sets of musicians in the genre today.” The 9513 Country Music [...]

  1. Rick
    August 7, 2008 at 12:33 pm Permalink

    Nice review Jim. I’ve never been a huge bluegrass fan and I’ve always felt the surge in popularity of bluegrass over the last couple decades is due to the loss of traditional country styles on Top 40 country radio. Bluegrass appeals to country traditionalists who have turned to it as the only available option as opposed to all this pop-rock modern country dreck or the rootsy Americana scene. Traditional country styles have become orphans in the live music scene (apart from Texas) as there are no “Traditional Country Festivals” around the country or any supporting organization or infrastructure. Even so called “Classic Country” radio stations don’t usually support current traditional styled artists as they tend to focus on the “classic” historical artists and their music.

    My favorite Bluegrass / Newgrass outfit by a country mile is the Fox Family Band now known by the odd name 3 Fox Drive. Their superb “Listen To The Music” album from a couple years back is one of the best albums I own of any genre. Great songwriting combined with goose bump inspiring vocals and superb picking that never showboats make for a darn near perfect record. Its an album that I always listen to all the way through and afterwards utter “Wow!”. Its too bad that album came out before The 9513 kicked into gear as the Fox Sisters just haven’t received the media attention they truly deserve……

  2. leeann
    August 7, 2008 at 12:41 pm Permalink

    Rick, I love Bluegrass, for the the record. I agree with you, though about 3 Fox Drive. They’re not my favorite, but I think they’re rather good.

  3. Rick
    August 8, 2008 at 6:03 pm Permalink

    Bluegrass artists just just get paid much mind by the regulars here at The 9513. Jim, you should definitely have the fine folks over at the Bluegrass Blog feature these as well since it hits their target audience……

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