Levon Helm: Electric Dirt

The latest solo album by the Band’s drummer and singer is a lot like his last one, 2007’s Grammy-winning Dirt Farmer. Like its predecessor, Electric Dirt is filled with such Americana-approved subjects as trains, family and working the land with your bare hands.

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LEVON HELM
Electric Dirt
(DIRT FARMER/VANGUARD)
[Rating: 3 STARS]

The latest solo album by the Band’s drummer and singer is a lot like his last one, 2007’s Grammy-winning Dirt Farmer. Like its predecessor, Electric Dirt is filled with such Americana-approved subjects as trains, family and working the land with your bare hands. The music is rustic and dusty and sounds like it was made by a bunch of friends hanging out on the porch after supper. The album starts with a rollicking cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Tennessee Jed,” which kicks up a bluesy swing and twang, but it soon settles into a sort of musical complacency, tapping age-old themes and Helm’s still sturdy voice for inspiration.