Posted on: November 24, 2019 Posted by: Kim Muncie Comments: 0

In their latest record, titled Time Has Made a Change, popular bluegrass group Jeff Parker & Company get back to basics in a time that has seen their peers doing anything and everything but, and as a result produce an album that could be the most focused of Parker’s extensive career. From the slow-churning swell of strings in “Southern Wind” to the crisp harmonies of a peaceful “Time Has Made a Change in Me,” there isn’t any filler to be skipped over in Time Has Made a Change; there is only multicolored layers of emotion, evocative poetry and chill-inducing amalgamations of guitar, mandolin, fiddle and banjo. Parker lets Colin Ray take over the lead vocals for “He Guides My Life,” “While Endless Ages Roll,” “A Memory of You” and “Carolina Line,” but never is his heroic mandolin’s cry very far away. No matter what your knowledge of the bluegrass genre may or may not consist of, you’d be a fool to miss out on the stunning play of Jeff Parker & Company in this new LP, which is as beguiling as it is boastful of its unmatched magnetism.

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As hard as I tried, I wasn’t able to locate any obvious elements of overproduced content in Time Has Made a Change; contrarily, this is a really efficient album from top to bottom, with even the more elaborate tracks in “Dixieland or Bust” and the fabulous “Wrong” feeling really well-rehearsed and carefully structured as to keep us engaged through every beat. Rhythm is the real compass that Parker and his cohorts were using in this adventure into vintage Americana, and aside from the occasional indulgence in string showmanship, there’s rarely a verse that doesn’t focus more on the sway of the band as a collective than the features of a specific instrument. There’s no debate as to whether or not this group of musicians is on the same wave link, and my gut tells me that all of these tracks would be even more enduring in style were we to hear them in a freeform medley outside of four studio walls, which isn’t something that can be said about every bluegrass band making headlines nowadays.

Although I can’t fathom this being the last occasion on which they’re winning the favor of critics across the board, Jeff Parker & Company really raise the bar for themselves in Time Has Made a Change, and I for one think that you would be hard-pressed to find another bluegrass album quite like their latest release at the moment. Time Has Made a Change has an intriguing mixture of old American formulas and new school passions, the likes of which are more often found among alternative country and progressive bluegrass groups than they are puritan acts like this one, and if it’s any sort of indication as to what Parker is going to be developing in future projects, it’s an exciting taste of what’s still yet to come. They’re on my radar heading into 2020, and I can confirm that they’ve earned every bit of the adulation they’ve received recently after listening to this incredible new LP.

Kim Muncie

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