Neil Spencer 

Sarah Jarosz: Follow Me Down — review

Bluegrass prodigy Sarah Jarosz blends old-style and modern in an impressive follow-up album, says Neil Spencer
  
  


Here's a turn-up; a 20-year-old bluegrass prodigy who digs Radiohead. Texas-born Jarosz made her name as a teenage banjo whiz on the country circuit, with her 2009 debut album, Song Up In Her Head, showing songwriting and vocal skills to match. This follow-up is equally impressive. Some self-penned numbers, such as "Annabelle Lee", could have been plucked from an old-time songbook. Others, like "My Muse", are unmistakably modern. Her cover of Radiohead's "The Tourist" sets its Yorkian angst to a dulcimer backdrop, while a crystalline version of Dylan's "Ring Them Bells" steals the show. Dazzling playing from star accompanists such as Chris Thile seals the deal.

 

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