G.Love shelves the Special Sauce for his latest release and reaches for some killer Carolina Cookin’ in the Avett Brothers. Fixin’ To Die is G.Love’s latest release and it will not disappoint you. One thing I’ve always enjoyed about G.Love’s music is a urban thread that runs through most of his music. That changes with Fixin’ To Die. Instead of the street you get a vibe of the Carolina Red Clay… The Avett Brothers really add to G.Love’s unique sound. Giving the album a real down to earth, no bullshit, vibe. I love the production of the album as well… not over mastered, not too clean, sounds like the boys are just hanging out having a good time together. Like some good ol’ Carolina BBQ, Fixin’ To Die is spiced just right.
Starting of with the title track (which was offered for free download) the boys jump right into the action. Scott Avett’s kick drum sets the tone while G.Love’s vocals sends the song into flight, while his harmonica drives it on down the road. “The Road” comes up next and has a nice little gallup. The boys bring in Bob Crawford and his stand up bass, with Seth Avett on guitar, Scott Avett on banjo, Jacob Edwards on drums, and G.Love on guitar & harmonica. Sounds like these cats having been making music together for years. Next track is “Katie Miss”. A very simple tune with just G.Love and the Avett Brothers, with some fine pickin’ on the banjo by Scott Avett. The next track is one of my favorites… this song screams of G.Love! “Milk and Sugar” is a foot stomper that will stick in your head for days. It’s another song with just G.Love and the Avett Brothers that is sure to be a G.Love classic… this song just sounds like it’s made for a live audience. It would go great beside the already G.Love classic “Milk and Cereal”… The boys go cover with the next track… “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”. They don’t stray too far from Paul Simon’s classic on this one. I really liked the percussions on this track with both Jeffrey Clemons and Scott Avett on drums.
Blind Willie McTell’s blues driven “You’ve got to Die” is next with some outstanding guitar slide-work and vocals. Once again you’ll find some very nice banjo pickin’ by Scott Avett with the faster paced “Walk On”. The boys slow the pace a bit with “Just Fine”. Bringing in Luther Dickenson (North Miss.All-Stars) with his amazing electric guitar slide skillz as well as Mary Ellen Bush with some backing vocals. “Ma mere” is a laid back track that speaks of a grandmother’s wisdom. Less is more with this track, and it just plain works. “Get Goin’” makes for a great road trip tune. It kinda skips right along with a super nice vibe with Seth Avett on a Hammond B3 organ. G.Love takes you away on the next track… “Heaven”, a solo track, is a beautiful song with G.Love at his best. Following “Heaven”, G.Love sings about headin’ home with “Home”. The lyrics paint a real visual picture of a loving house filled with children’s laughter, yummy smells coming from the kitchen, and folks sitting on the back porch. Lou Reed’s “Pale Blue Eyes” is covered on the next track. The boys really bring some very sweet guitar and banjo paired with some nice vocals by G.Love make for a very nice version Uncle Lou would be very proud…”500 mile Girl” is the last track on the disc. A fantastic way to finish up such a beautiful album. Kudos to G.Love ! Fixin’ To Die may be G.Loves best work yet, and the addition of the Avett Brothers (Seth & Scott) was a smashing success… This album is a must for anyone who values quality music !
One pretty cool fact about this album… all the songs on Fixin’ to Die were mixed and recorded in the lovely North Carolina city of Asheville… Echo Mountain Recording.
Scott Avett, Seth Avett, and G.Love
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