Gill Landry
Gill Landry
Release Date: Mar 3, 2015
Genre(s): Country, Alt-Country, Americana, Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock
Record label: ATO
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Album Review: Gill Landry by Gill Landry
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Most people would recognize the name Gill Landry as a member of the seven-piece folk ensemble, Old Crow Medicine Show. While they wouldn’t be wrong to acknowledge him for his timeless inclusion with the band—they just won a deserved Grammy for Best Folk Album, for context—to recognize him for only his work with Virginian Americana would be acknowledging but a small part of a looming composite. Landry is an individually accomplished singer-songwriter as well, having released two full-length albums prior to his signing on to Old Crow Medicine Show label ATO Records for his self-titled major label solo debut.
Based on rating 8/10
Singer, songwriter, and curator of vintage Americana, Gill Landry has taken the Delta Land mystique of his native Louisiana with him throughout all of his travels. From his early jug band days in the Pacific Northwest to his later pursuits as a member of Nashville revivalists Old Crow Medicine Show, the humidity has followed from project to project, occasionally threatening to consume his identity. The two solo records he issued in 2007 and 2011 featured some strong material, but often felt a little too persona-heavy, like they were made by some sort of swampland/dust-bowl character who'd drifted in out of an old photo.
Based on rating 7/10
This self-titled third release from Old Crow Medicine Show's chief multi-instrumentalist marks a bit of a departure. Gill Landry's previous efforts (especially the dirty rain shower that was 2007's The Ballad of Lawless Soirez) tended toward moody, noir-ish soundscapes a la Joe Henry or early Calexico. But here, while still relaxed and mellow, the emphasis is less upon imagined spaces and more upon immediate emotion.
Based on rating 3/5
Since this is multi-instrumentalist Landry’s third solo release, it should be no surprise that it, like its predecessors, sounds little like the rollicking folk/mountain music of his other gig with the Grammy winning Old Crow Medicine Show. But this self-titled album also doesn’t share much of the occasional retro urban noir that was so appealing on his first two projects, especially 2007’s The Ballad of Lawless Soirez. Rather, Landry turns pensive and introspective on these 10 tracks.
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