Dark Road LED Headlamp - for Night Hiking & Camping

In my review of Browne's "Drive On" album, I likened it to a trip back in time to rediscover a lost blues legend. On The Road Is Dark, Michael Jerome Browne shows more modern leanings. He still combines fingerpicking, slide work, and some great fretless banjo playing. The most obvious difference is that he uses some light amplification on many tracks here. Even beyond that, though, the aesthetic is more modern, with rhythms that sound more like 60's blues revival stuff than original 20's delta blues recordings. That isn't to say anyone would mistake this album for Dave Van Ronk or early Chris Smither-- it just has the feel of a more modern album than Drive On. It is still fun, and the darker numbers (as the album title suggests) can still hit pretty hard. The occasional amplification is what really elevates this music beyond 60's revival stuff, though. A beat-up old Martin can sound great. So can a strat. However, we are all accustomed to those sounds. A dreadnought run through an amp with no effects added-- that's not something we are used to hearing, and by breaking up the straight-acoustic songs with some amplification, the whole album gels together nicely. Keep it up, Michael.Further listening: Alvin Youngblood Hart, Corey Harris, Steve James