Old Crow Medicine Show
Friday, March 4, Orange Peel

Let me guess: you knew I was gonna plug this show. Either that, or you haven’t been paying attention. Their debut album O.C.M.S. was the grand champion, after all, nabbing the top slot on my Ten Best for 2004. I’m not alone. My wife loves the album, my brother loves the album, his wife loves the album, Jake the furry Unitarian preacher loves the album . . . Heck, even my 4-year-old son Eli knows when Old Crow is on the stereo.

At least our tastes differ when it comes to our favorite track: Nita goes for the embellished Dylan ballad “Wagon Wheel,” I favor the barn-burning frenzy of “Tear it Down,” Eli likes the plaintive cry of “Take ‘Em Away.” (Believe me, you do not know pathos until you’ve seen a 4-year-old sing, “My heart is heavy when my spirit’s not free/ Take away these chains from me.”) It’s a bit unfortunate that we can’t make the Old Crow show a family event — at age 4, Eli misses the Orange Peel cutoff by 14 years — but my wife and I will be there. We’ve seen ‘em twice and can report that Old Crow puts on a lively show. They still play like they’re happy to be there, and the spirit is contagious. The result is a rag-and-roll hootenanny, a look-your-roots-are-showing roof-raiser that recalls the glory years of early American string band music without resorting to pale imitation. Book it.

Tickets are $12 in advance and $14 at the door, and the show starts at 9 p.m. Call 828.225.5851 for more info.

Buddy Miller
Saturday, March 5, Orange Peel

Buddy Miller has one of those reputations that every songwriter dreams of, but no mortgage-payer really wants: he’s a hidden wonder, a wildly talented artist who wins lavish praise but can’t translate that praise to commercial success. That picture’s not entirely true — Miller’s songs have been recorded by the Dixie Chicks, Lee Ann Womack, and Brooks & Dunn, among others, so one assumes the mortgage is paid — but it remains the case that he’s known more for his session work and songwriting credits than for his own records.

That’s a shame, too, because Buddy Miller has quietly been releasing fine albums since 1995’s Your Love and Other Lies, a small masterpiece of DIY Americana that featured guest vocals from longtime collaborators Jim Lauderdale, Lucinda Williams, and Emmylou Harris.

Ten years later, he’s touring behind his seventh release, 2004’s gospel-tinged Universal United House of Prayer. Devoted fans will recognize Miller’s hard-edged country-soul style. Miller has more grit and snarl than the country acts that record his tunes, and he ain’t afraid to use it. Despite that edge, Universal United House of Prayer is an optimistic album, built around the joy and salvation Miller finds in his faith. The storyteller is still present — more than a few of these songs trace spiritual journeys — as is the songwriter. Miller has a knack for cleaning up his sound and leaving a sweet melody sung in the space left open.

He’s joined by a few old friends (Harris, Lauderdale, wife Julie Miller) and accompanied on most of the tracks by Regina and Ann McCrary, who add a dash of gospel soul on every song. I’m not as big a fan of Buddy Miller’s voice as some, but you don’t have to be a fan to see the craftsmanship in these songs, or to understand that they come from a deep place indeed.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 at the door, and the show starts at 9 p.m. American Altitude opens.

I Know, I Know

That Jimmy Smith played organ. The Hammond B3. An appreciation I wrote last week was titled “Thanks, Mr. Piano Man.” The title was not mine; the appreciation was. Thanks, Mr. Organ Man.

Also Playing in Asheville

• Mel Jones and His Bag of Bones, Westville Pub, 3/3

• Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Orange Peel, 3/3

• Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Stella Blue, 3/4

• Polecat Creek, Jack of the Wood, 3/4

• Greg Brown, Grey Eagle, 3/5

• Dub Roots Ensemble, Emerald Lounge, 3/5

• Strut, Stella Blue, 3/5

• Lunatic Fringe, Westville Pub, 3/5

• Asylum Street Spankers, Grey Eagle, 3/6

Three Good Things

1. Sunshine

2. Strawberries

3. Spring Training

They Said It

“Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen.”

— Willa Cather