Haven’t heard Ry’s latest offering, but always been a fan of his work.

Cooder was in Africa(Mali)with Ali Farka Toure and Clarence Gatemouth Brown in the Nineties making the memorable, Beyond Timbuktu. Later came The Buena Vista Social Club(Cuba), and Chavez Ravine, his brilliant Story Album of the plight of Californian Hispanics in the Fifties, and now Buddy and pals take us to visit the lives and struggles of poor Americans a generation earlier.

Cooder is a gifted musicologist and perhaps an even better story teller. Ken Burns documented on film his Trifecta Americana: The US Civil War, and the histories of Jazz and Baseball. One helluva legacy, one might observe. Ry Cooder is doing something similar with his albums. History with music. He has helped keep roots music alive and thriving in America long after The Band played its Last Waltz. He has continued to work with lifelong friends like percussionist/drummer, Jim Keltner, and Flacco Jimenez, the chicken-skin accordionist. That kind of loyalty does not have a price. It goes way beyond a filthy buck.
Ry’s son, Joachim, has followed the family tradition, in the way that Arlo and Ben followed Woody. While the music of Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Ry Cooder lives, Americans will always have acoustic access to their story, Joe Hill will never die, and Buddy will always be able to find a feed and a safe place to kip.

Mike, wonderful review. Enjoyed every word of it.