Wayne Bledsoe: Ry Cooder's new album is workingman sturdy on 'Pull Up Some Dust'

Eclectic music artist Ry Cooder is “out there” on his new album “I, Flathead.”

"Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down," Ry Cooder (Nonesuch)

If any era needed another Woody Guthrie it's this one. Ry Cooder obviously recognizes that and draws inspiration from Guthrie and his fellow musical populist rebel rousers for the album "Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down." It's not that Cooder is copying Guthrie. He's simply capturing the same spirit and intent. "Dust" is like a musical newspaper on the banker bailout, the working class' diminishing prospects and people pulling together in hard times.

"Dust" has a theme, but no direct story.

Cooder sets the tone with the facetiously-happy sing-a-long "No Banker Left Behind" and continues on with cynical "Christmas Time This Year" — an angry rail against the current wars. Cooder takes time to have fun. He imitates blues great John Lee Hooker (in both voice and guitar style) in "John Lee Hooker for President" and offers the nostalgic Tex-Mex "Dreamer," which could've been a track from "Chavez Ravine."

Mostly, though, "Pull Up Some Dust" is a bitter pill delivered with Cooder's honeyed guitar licks and sweet tone and likeable voice. If it inspires you enough to make a phone call or go out to a voting booth or maybe just have a good conversation with a stranger at a bar, Cooder would probably think it had done its job.

"The Goat Rodeo Sessions," Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile (Sony Classical)

Classical cello great Yo-Yo Ma has been breaking out of the confines of classical music for the past 20 years, regularly collaborating with musicians outside the strict confines of classical music. The Grammy-winning "Appalachia Waltz" paired him with bassist Edgar Meyer and Mark O'Connor, both of whom first became known in the bluegrass world, but also performed classical, jazz and anything else that struck their fancy.

Meyer (a native of Oak Ridge and probably the most acclaimed acoustic bassist alive) returns to work with Ma and buddies Chris Thile (best known as the mandolinist/vocalist of Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers) and Stuart Duncan (fiddler for the Nashville Bluegrass Band, and A-list freelance player), both virtuosos. The result is a lovable hybrid of styles that demonstrates how fun much musicians can have when they're armed with a deep musical knowledge and seemingly limitless technical ability. The most important thing, though, is it's as rewarding for the listener as the player. Although there are two vocal numbers with Thile and Crooked Still vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, the real gems here are when the instrumentalists find a sweet spot and follow it. And there are plenty.

© 2011, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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