CD REVIEW: WARREN HAYNES – Ashes & Dust

Shane | 7 August 2015 | Reply

CD REVIEW: WARREN HAYNES – Ashes & Dust
Provogue/Mascot Label Group
24 July, 2015
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
7 ½ /10

Warren Haynes has enjoyed a long, lauded career bring rocking southern-fried boogie to the likes of The Allman Brothers, Gov’t Mule and The Dead, and on Ashes & Dust – with the help of Railroad Earth – turns his hand to a more acoustic, Americana-styled blues.

Describing it as an opportunity to “build a home” for songs which didn’t fit with his band projects, or even his two previous solo albums, Haynes shows masterful restraint through this collection of gentle, delicate songs.

At times he’s reflective and melancholy (Blue Maiden’s Tale, Stranded In Self-Pity), at times a rootsier blue collar man-of-the-people with more than a touch of Bruce Springsteen in the lyrics department (Company Man, New Year’s Eve, Glory Road), whilst Fleetwood Mac’s Gold Dust Woman, performed with Grace Potter on vocals, is just masterful and brings out all the raw emotion of this classic track.

Most of all, Haynes is chilled – so chilled, in fact, that Ashes & Dust gets a bit samey by the end of it. Each track in well-crafted and engaging, for sure, but there’s not a lot of sonic variety on offer.

Ashes & Dust is an enjoyable ride, it could have just done with an injection of a little fire in the back end.