By: TJ Liebgott
January 23, 2009

Its always disappointing when an artist goes solo just to release an album that's a carbon copy of the band they are trying to "grow" from.  With Sarah Blackwood's debut release Way Back Home this is hardly the case.  Way Back Home is exactly as it sounds, a CD of Blackwood visiting her early roots of country and working class folk heroes like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

The liner notes within Way Back Home read like an old Country album with guest cameos from family members and friends like the Creepshow's Sickboy, Hooch Parkins from The Matadors and even her father.  Recorded and mixed by her brother Ian Blackwood, the album has a stripped down, laid-back, organic and very real feeling. 

The strongest cut is the opening "Lonely Parade" which will immediately get stuck in your head with its eerie, but beautiful chorus.  However, the rest of the tracks are not filler by any means.  "My Mistake Baby Boy," "Trainwreck," "Monday Morning" and "I'm Sorry" are all great tracks on an album of acoustic gems.

If Bob Dylan caught flak by hardcore fans for going electric, let's hope the opposite doesn't happen to Sarah Blackwood for going acoustic.

TTTT (out of 5)

 

For more info on Sarah Blackwood visit http://www.myspace.com/sarahblackwood