With over three hundred albums recorded over a span of thirty years, CMH Records shows no sign of slowing down with their Pickin’ On series, which brings together bluegrass artists to perform their versions of material from rock and pop artists. The latest in the series, Pickin’ On Post Malone is one of the most intriguing. With a blend of genres such as pop, hip hop, rap, rock, R&B, and country among them, I went in somewhat skeptically as to how well bluegrass treatments of his songs could be executed. The results are rather surprising.
This was particularly the case with the opening track, Sunflower, which is performed here by Water Tower. One of three songs performed by the group, it successfully keeps the core elements of Post Malone’s original arrangements while inserting a strong bluegrass inflection. Water Tower consists of Kenny Feinstein on guitar and vocals, Tommy Drinkard on dobro and vocals, Jesse Blue Eads on banjo and vocals, John Seltzer on mandolin, and Taylor Estes on bass.
The Alabama-based band Iron Horse is no stranger to performing material of this nature. Having done a number of projects with CMH Records prior to this, they clearly understood the assignment. Both of their songs included here, I Had Some Help and Guy For That, are the clear highlights of this recording. Along with Vance Henry on guitar and lead vocals, the band is made up of Tony Robertson on mandolin and tenor vocals, Ricky Rogers on bass and baritone vocals, and Anthony Richardson on banjo.
Another intriguing piece is Lemon Tree, performed by Big Richard. Performed with somewhat of a folky feel, the vocals really stand out. The quartet consists of Joy Adams on banjo and vocals, Bonnie Sims on guitar and vocals, Hazel Royer on bass and vocals, and Eve Panning on fiddle and vocals.
While a lot of the selections are well executed, others such as Better Now are not. Performed by Holler Choir, consisting of Clint Roberts on guitar and lead vocals, Jackson Grimm on banjo, mandolin, bass and harmony vocals, and Julian Pinelli on fiddle, this is an instance of the song itself not fitting well within the acoustic mold. Therefore the performers are overly compensating throughout.
The album closes with a reprise of Sunflower, this time performed by JD Casper of Austin, TX. This varies quite differently from the previous rendering from Water Tower, but nonetheless it’s a fantastic arrangement, chock full of originality. Along with Casper on guitar, piano, percussion, harmonica and vocals, he is accompanied here by Cameron Owens on mandolin and bass, Matt Downing on banjo, and Benjamin Alan Levy on fiddle.
As with many of the albums in the Pickin’ On series, this definitely will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Even if you’re not familiar with the work of Post Malone, there’s some intriguing musical nuggets and ideas to be found throughout this effort.
