Bonnie Prince Billy – Best Troubadour

Few in the alt-country world are as divisive as Will Oldham, aka Bonnie Prince Billy, actor and formerly vocalist and writer with Palace Music. A voice as vulnerable as a naked hitchhiker in the Apalachian mountains with lyrics darker than a Spinal Tap album cover demands an acquired taste of its audience. With this in mind, no one was more pleasantly surprised than me with Best Troubadour, a compilation of covers comprising of favourite tunes from the great Merle Haggard’s back catalogue. The tonsils have never sounded brighter and happier to be there, relishing the heartbroken, yet upbeat at times, classic honky tonk ballads which often turn out as duets or trios. This is classic Southern States stuff, slinky guitar and lazy drums, perfect for drinking and bitching about exes or how the world is treating you. A lullaby duet on I Always Get Lucky With You is delivered with a graceful, gentle touch. A flute dances around on Leonard with what sounds to me the most uplifting, lighter than air piece of music Will’s ever created. Haunting slide guitar and sparse woodwind on Roses In The Winter would comfortably compliment David Lynch's Twin Peaks. These sixteen warm and tender tracks sound utterly convincing and would reward an evening date with a good single malt.