After the break up of The Band, Levon Helm released a handful of solo albums, but this excellent disc represents his first solo disc for 25 years, and a return to his rich Southern roots. The 13 songs have a natural and organic American feel, with country blues, dirt road folk and Cajun influences sharing the playlist with a scattering of songs from more contemporary writers such as Steve Earle and Buddy & Julie Miller.
After recovering from throat cancer, Helm’s voice is has a slightly different sound, understandably a little rougher but it’s pretty much all there, and his phrasing is unmistakably identifiable and familiar to all.
Produced by master multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell and Amy Helm (Levon’s daughter and member of Ollabelle), the overall quality of the musicianship and craft is exceptional.
As you’d expect the album uses traditional American instrumentation with guitar, fiddle, accordion and mandolin featuring heavily throughout in addition to Levon’s distinctive drum work.
A great mixture of songs and an excellent set of musicians, but what really stands out is Levon’s delivery – these songs have roots and a sense of place, and the way he communicates this across the whole album is superb, there’s a genuine honesty throughout.
The mix of traditional and contemporary songs sit together perfectly, the words, tunes and music evoke the struggles, dirt roads and open spaces of rural America, and the superb musicianship throughout all meld together to create a memorable album.
Those with any interest in American music, be it traditional folk or contemporary singer/songwriters should investigate ‘Dirt Farmer’, this is a genuinely excellent disc.

Track listing
1 False Hearted Lover Blues
2 Poor Old Dirt Farmer
3 The Mountain
4 Little Birds
5 The Girl I Left Behind
6 Calvary
7 Anna Lee
8 Got Me A Woman
9 A Train Robbery
10 Single Girl, Married Girl
11 The Blind Child
12 Feelin' Good
13 Wide River To Cross

£12.99