Weight of the World

There's a lot to like about this adventurous duet album by Rachel Baiman and Christian Sedelmyer. The former is a prodigiously talented state-champion fiddler, while the latter is a classically trained violinist and touring member of the Jerry Douglas Band. The chemistry between the two musicians is manifest in the pair's assured and sympathetic treatment of the material. Most of the compositions are originals by Baiman, which sound fresh, imaginative and rooted in the contemporary bluegrass or indie-folk realms. Worthy covers of Bob Dylan's ‘Mama, You Been on My Mind’ and John Hartford's ‘On Christmas Eve’, plus a creative interpretation of the traditional Appalachian tune ‘Black Eyed Suzie’, round out the session. The latter features Baiman on clawhammer banjo trading riffs with Sedelmyer's five-string fiddle; it's a combination employed to great effect on several of the album's other songs. The harmony vocals are distinguished by an oddly compelling melding of the duo's (mostly flat) tonal palette, while the individual voices serve the material very well. The title-track stands out among the album's ten songs, with a dark, haunting melody and deeply wrought groove reminiscent of an Appalachian murder ballad. 10 String Symphony have re-imagined grandpa's back porch music-making to make it sound like it belongs in the 21st century.