REVIEW: (REDLINE) Reed Jones — Ran Out of Road (SINGLE)
If you are a believer in such things, Audie Blaylock is smiling somewhere.
Devoted bluegrass fans will be happy with Reed Jones regardless of spiritual affiliation. His original single “Ran Out of Road”, backed by Blaylock and Jones’ Redline bandmates, is a more than fitting musical love letter to his recently deceased friend, songwriter par excellence, and bandleader. The longtime staple of the modern bluegrass scene died without warning in Auburn, Indiana a little over a year ago, and his friends continue processing the loss.
“Ran Out of Road” is Jones’ gesture in that direction.
It has obvious cathartic value. Attentive listeners will recognize that Jones wrote and performed this song for himself, first and foremost, but it has far-reaching resonance. Chronicling the experience of mistaking a random stranger for his fallen friend strikes a potentially universal chord for listeners. It grounds the resulting longing in everyday realities rather than fueling them with ham-fisted and ill-suited overcooked poetics. Jones’ writing exhibits flair. However, it is never ostentatious.
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The music doesn’t suffer from needless affectation. Jones assembles a stellar crew of bluegrass talents to pull off “Ran Out of Road”, two fiddles, two banjos, a mandolin, bass, added percussion, and even legend Vince Gill contributing backing vocals. They are skilled enough to stay out of each other’s way. The fluent polish pervading each second of the recording never comes across as facile. Instead, “Ran Out of Road” glides with confidence. Jones has a message he conveys with maturity and a steady artistic hand.
The underlying quality of such efforts undercuts the idea that bluegrass isn’t relevant. Any musical vehicle capable of helping convey life’s truths deserves our notice. Reed Jones understands this and sings each syllable with equal parts entertaining skill and heart-rendering soul. You feel his sense of loss. Blaylock’s departure leaves a lingering hole in his life that, in some ways, “Ran Out of Road” tries filling.
However, it is more. “Ran Out of Road”, in a quiet and unassuming way, celebrates the Blaylock who ran that road at all. It is a road that has seen its fair share of travelers, more are always on the way, but few we pass along the way merit more than a passing glance. We nod and move on. Reed Jones’ “Ran Out of Road” understands that the ones you can’t forget are special. He’s left an inescapable mark on the songwriter’s life and art.
Jones and Redline wouldn’t have it any other way.
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He makes it mean something to the listener. This is a song about the occasional hard work of living, our duty to honor those who help shape us and lionize their contributions. Wise listeners will prefer songs such as this to more fodder about wayward women, hard living, or jilted love. It’s songwriting like this that breathes new life into this venerable form.
It shouldn’t be a one-shot affair. We’d be in for quite a treat if Jones decides to continue penning new material in the same spirit, and Redline goes on, in a new form. No matter though. If “Ran Out of Road” is a shooting star blazing across the musical firmament, let’s bask in its earthy glow.
Colin Jordan
