In the first few measures of “Wildwood,” the titular track off of Chatham County Line’s most recent album, Dave Wilson declares, “Don’t mistake me for a wild wood /A place to run and hide/… I’m not a place to hang your head/Run away from yourself.”
It’s a candor that pervades the album in its entirety, and in a summer full of lo-fi pretension, Raleigh’s Chatham County Line is as organic and refreshing as a dash through a sprinkler on a July afternoon.
Wildwood is an ideal distillation of the best Chatham County Line has offered on past records.
There’s political commentary in the form of “Ghost of Woody Guthrie,” which adapts the ‘60s folk troubadour’s messages to a modern context. Insightful emotionalism on tracks like “Alone in New York” renders heartbreak without reverting to truisms.
But most importantly, there’s an innate sense of songwriting know-how — Dave Wilson and company have crafted a sturdy set of folk tunes that are instantly gripping and lastingly memorable.
Where harmonies and melodic structures might initially seem obvious, a look beneath each song’s accessible veneer reveals intricacy and complexity that extends these songs’ shelf life.
Sure, there are a few choruses that any listener can memorize after a couple of repeats, but Chatham County Line doesn’t prize simplicity at the cost of profundity. It’s a wire-thin line between classic folk tropes and modern musical aesthetics, and Wilson walks this narrow rope ?unflinchingly.
“Crop Comes In,” with its immaculate harmonies and charming instrumentation, epitomizes the sweeping scale and instant engagement the group can establish in a seemingly unadorned folk tune.
The track that follows, “Porcelain Doll,” is an equally telling statement about the power the group wields over its craft — where other songs mount to epic, extended harmonies and repetitions, this delicate track is brief and austere, an exposition of Wilson’s glass-clear voice and classic folk sensibilities.
