Calling yourself “The American Songster” is a bold move, but on his new album Traveling Wildfire, Dom Flemons easily lives up to the title.
In some ways the new album is typical Flemons. Country, bluegrass, hymns, jigs, Piedmont blues and more all appear across the album’s 15 tracks. The source material is also typically eclectic, ranging from early blues songs to a Bob Dylan demo.
“I wrote the song in a dark period of my life and set it aside until I decided to revisit it for this album.”Dom Flemons
A difference in the new album is the increasingly personal lyrics on some of the songs. That is showcased in the forlorn yet hopeful “It’s Cold Inside.”
“In 2010, an injury I suffered on stage brought many years of both physical and mental exhaustion, including extreme body trauma that continues to follow me after years of hard, worldwide traveling,” Flemons said in an interview with The Bluegrass Situation. “I wrote the song in a dark period of my life and set it aside until I decided to revisit it for this album.”
Presented as a country western ballad, it kicks off three of the strongest tracks, coming in the middle of the album. Next up is a catchy hymn called “We Are Almost Down To The Shore,” first recorded by bluesman Jimmie Strothers in 1936 with Alan Lomax.
Flemons and his bandmates turn the main refrain into an earworm. On “Nobody Wrote It Down,” the narrator tells of the exploits and adventures his ancestors. The song makes it clear why the stories were not written down, without explicitly stating it.
With Traveling Wildfire, Dom Flemons continues to make the old new again, and adds his own experiences into the mix. It is our Album of the Week on KAXE/KBXE.
