The Seldom Scene
Different Roads
Rebel Records
5 stars (out of 5)
At first glance, Different Roads might seem a bit of a disappointment. The Seldom Scene recorded seven albums for Rebel Records, but this compilation pulls tracks from only three. Slip the CD into the player, though, and the disappointment vanishes in a cascade of guitar and mandolin.
The Scene does top-notch work on the fastest track here, “Pan American,” but it’s on slow and mid-tempo numbers that they demonstrate complete mastery of the concept of drive. Thanks to his trick of crescendoing into the ends of phrases, John Starling’s vocal drives as persistently as guest guitarist Paul Craft’s leads.
The full band uses the same technique throughout, always in the service of the music. The way Starling’s voice swells into the last chorus, which then dims to a whisper, is only one of the moments worth studying on “Wait a Minute.” Instrumentalists will be taken with Duffey’s simple yet stunning mandolin break, full of emotion, thanks to his expert use of dynamics. On the verses, Starling tests the limits of his baritone to heartbreaking effect. This classic track is gorgeous, soulful and astonishingly musical from beginning to end.
Repeat that last sentence for “Last Train from Poor Valley.” Starling wrings every last ounce of empathy and resignation from Norman Blake’s forlorn lyric. The way the band uses their impeccable diction to shape phrases demonstrates their exceptional musicality.
That musicality is no accident: Auldridge, Duffey, and Gray all came from the most musical band in bluegrass at that time: the Country Gentlemen. With the Scene, they recorded a compelling re-reading of the Gents standard, “Rebels Ye Rest,” making the original their own with a more urgent delivery.
If music is what occurs in the silence between notes, the Scene made some of their best music with Starling’s “Gardens and Memories.” The reading is hushed and uncluttered, but driven nonetheless. This is due in no small part to bassist Gray’s distinctive walking bass lines, also used to marvelous effect on “Reason for Being” and “Pictures from Life’s Other Side.”
The Scene’s individual members drew attention to themselves in spite of – or perhaps because of – their consciousness of the ensemble as a whole. “Pictures from Life’s Other Side” boasts an unusual duet, in which Eldridge plays something called a dobro-banjo, weaving in and out of Auldridge’s back-up lines without ever getting in the way of the vocal trio. For all their instrumental prowess, the Scene’s vocals were (and are) what sets them apart. Duffey, Starling, and Auldridge concocted a vocal blend that never sacrificed their individual sounds.
It takes expert musicians to do that, and the Scene managed it every time they harmonized. The blend is particularly good on “Pictures from Life’s Other Side,” “Old Train” (made better by Auldridge’s peerless dobro work) and “Walk Through This World With Me.” To the latter, Duffey brings his special brand of soul, all the more remarkable because he never shouts.
Soul was the hallmark of this edition of the Seldom Scene. In John Starling and John Duffey, they had two of the most soulful lead singers in the business – a vocal partnership as classic and deeply missed as that of Bill Monroe and Jimmy Martin. Their vocals shine with emotional truth, whether on contemporary tracks like “Easy Ride from Good Times to the Blues” (driven by drums and Auldridge’s pedal steel) or traditional favorites like Earl Scruggs’ “I’ve Lost You” and “If That’s the Way You Feel,” from Ralph and Peggy Stanley.
The classic Seldom Scene packed more music into 14 tracks than some bands do into a lifetime of work. “Different Roads” is a worthwhile substitute for the exhaustive box set that they so richly deserve. But, at this rate the current, equally deserving lineup may beat them to it.
by Maria Morgan Davis
