There’s no promise we’ll see tomorrow. It’s a familiar adage. It is true, without a doubt, but it doesn’t go far enough. We have no promise of the next hour, minute, or even second. Despite our best efforts, inevitable decay conspires against us, and we live life in the hands of capricious fate.
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Audie Blaylock’s friends know this well. It is a little over a year since the sixty-one-year-old bluegrass singer and bandleader unexpectedly died at his Auburn, Indiana home. Blaylock’s primary songwriter and bassist Reed Jones’ new single “Ran Out of Road” enlists several longtime bluegrass peers and contemporaries, among them special guests Vince Gill supplying tenor vocals and Harry Stinson playing snare. Others making significant contributions include Mason Wright and Patrick McAvinue’s fiddle playing, the latter playing mandolin as well, Evan Ward and Russ Carson on banjo, and Darren Nicholson’s baritone vocals. Jones plays bass and delivers memorable lead vocals.
He fills the song with plain-spoken earnestness. It isn’t embarrassingly idealistic, sickly sentimental, or thriving on cliché. Instead, Jones’ singing conveys a plaintive heartfelt longing to continue feeling the presence of a departed loved one. Surrendering their influence is unthinkable. Conversational eloquence drives the bulk of his writing, but Jones scatters a few poetic images throughout the lyrics. These elegant turns of phrase further elevate an already outstanding work without risking pretentiousness.
“Ran Out of Road” seamlessly integrates Jones and the backing vocals in a satisfying blend. It is no small feat that the extended lineup never risks cluttering the arrangement, but the production captures a performance that’s airy yet energetic and physical. Jones’ voice stands out without displaying any outstanding vocal hallmarks. He isn’t Pavarotti. However, the clear longing in his singing will move all but the hardest of hearts.
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/reed-jones
Music such as this defies death. Audie Blaylock lives a little longer thanks to tributes such as this. It doesn’t paint him as any sort of saint or idealized figure but as a flesh and blood human responsible for deeply impacting Jones’ life. He repays the honor of having known him with a record of his ongoing effect. However, it reaches further than a musical eulogy or memorial. It rebukes an unthinking universe that would rob him, of everyone Audie knew, of his continuing presence.
It will provide a powerful live experience. Even a single listen to this song will illustrate why it behooves Jones to play this for appreciative audiences as often as possible. Universality is another key to this track’s success. Few among us haven’t felt the lingering ache, cellular level, of having lost a pivotal person in our lives and the recurring sensation, manifesting in multiple ways, that they somehow remain at our side.
For Reed Jones’ sake, I hope so.
He convinces me. He will likely convince you. Jones doesn’t pull it off with a bevy of bells and whistles, chest-beating, or flashy histrionics. Instead, Reed Jones opens his heart, and we’re better for it. His new single “Ran Out of Road” is a must-hear bluegrass excellence.
Garth Thomas