My first taste of The Cox Family came from their contribution to the now very famous, O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack with the old bluegrass tune, “I Am Weary (Let Me Rest).” Since then the group has been fairly quiet, releasing no new material until finally, at the end of this October, the group returned to the studio to put out Gone Like Cotton, their first full album since the mid 90s.
Anyone expecting an album of traditional folk ballads are going to be disappointed, that is not at all what The Cox Family set out to do. Gone Like The Cotton is country western to its core with tinges of bluegrass. A lot of the time what we get is a sort of Nashville inspired twelve bar electric blues guitar. Songs like “Good Imitation of the Blues” and “Cash on the Barrelhead” are the greatest examples of their full bore country stylings.
Though there is a strong country western influence throughout the record, there is plenty of diversity between the tracks. “Desire” and “Let It Roll” are closer to the more Allison Kraus and Union Station bluegrass inspired ballads that I expected from the record. These songs strip away the electric sound found on a lot of the album and stick to the bluegrass basics, a dobro, mandolin, guitar, piano, and beautiful harmony.
The sound that I was really waiting for came in the very last song, the title track, Gone Like The Cotton. The song is just guitar and The Cox Family signature harmony. There is something supremely comforting about “Gone Like The Cotton,” though the lyrics may denote death and the movement of time, the song feels warm. The Cox Family just have a way with harmony that brings out the beauty in a song, no matter the subject.
Gone Like The Cotton may not be for everyone, but fans of country, bluegrass, and old-time music should absolutely check it out. There is more than enough quality music on this record to make any Southern music appreciator happy. Here is a sample from The Cox Family’s first record in almost two decades, enjoy:
-Ryan Schmitz
