[rating=8.00]
The high energy, roots-oriented Ben Miller Band has grown a fan base mostly from their engaging live shows and prime spots, opening for ZZ Top and other headliners. This, Choke Cherry Tree is their third album and second release on the New West label. Multi-instrumentalists and founding members Ben Miller and Scott Leeper are joined by Rachel Ammons and Smilin’ Bob Lewis. Producer Chris Funk of The Decemberists and the band collaborated to bring in 19 guest musicians for the 11-track set. Among them are Jenny Conlee and Nate Query (also of The Decemberists), saxophonist Ralph Carney (Tom Waits, Tin Huey), Dan Hunt of Neko Case’s band. Instruments include strings, additional horns, and several voices. Like previous material the songcraft is direct, raw, and rugged but embellished, and more infectiously melodic due to the guest contributions.
Miller talks about the album this way, “Early n the process of making this album, I thought that we had to really nail our live approach in the recording studio, or we needed to forget about that and just work on capturing the songs in an inventive way that presents them in their best light. We decided on the latter approach, and we never looked back…Even though there was more collaboration with other people on this album, it’s probably the least compromised album I’ve ever made.”
North Mississippi Hill Country blues, Appalachian mountain music, bluegrass, or pure country come uniquely together in The Ben Miller Band’s trademark “Ozark stomp.” Much of what makes their lve sound unique is their use of lo-tech, largely self-built instruments including Miller’s thrift shop guitars and banjos, bassist Scott Leeper’s one string bass, and variety of trombone, trumpet, mandolin, electric washboard and electric spoons. “The instruments that we use,” Miller says, “were originally born out of necessity, because we didn’t have any money…we’d wire things together and try things out in different permutations and see where it led us.”
The results here seem more hi-tech and certainly more varied than their 2014 release. The opener, “Nothing Gets Me Down” is supported by lush instrumentation and harmonies. Their trademark stomp with singalong choruses begins on the second track “Akira Kurosawa” and continues through “Big Boy,” the fourth track. “Trapeze” begins with an accordion, several female voices, and moves into danceable mountain music. “Lighthouse” is a string-laden ballad, showcasing Miller’s vocals. “Redwing Blackbird” is a dissonant vehicle for Rachel Ammons on the lead vocal. “Life of Crime” continues the stomp while “Sketchbook” has elements of a fiddle reel. “My Own Good Time” is essentially rendered like a good folk song. The epic closer, “Mississippi Cure,” begins with an orchestral setting before morphing into a narrative story song with varying dynamics and syncopation.
Kudos to the Ben Miller Band for evolving their sound, which is markedly different than 2014’s Any Way, Shape, or Form. In fact, given the breadth of this effort, that title may better fit with this collection of more finely crafted songs.
