Fixin to Die (CD)

Like a classic novel it all stars at a chance meeting one rainy, fall night in Boston, when fellow torchbearers of new roots Americana, Seth and Scott Avett of the Avett Brothers invite Garrett Durron aka G. Love onto their tour bus after a gig to share their love of back road blues. This mutual affinity leads to G. Love sharing the stage with the Avett Brothers at a summer music festival both are playing. The collaboration, sounding so natural and right, deepens, so much so, eventually G. Love asks Scott and Seth Avett to not only play on his new record, he asks them to produce it as well. Inspired by this shared musical heritage, the result is FIXIN TO DIE, a collection of rearranged traditional, a classic cover and a slew of G. Love originals, many simmering for over a decade, all sharing a common goal: To strip away all pretense and capture the original spirit and sound G. Love as cultivated over his entire career but never fully embraced until now.

Fixin' to Die isn't the first G. Love album billed without Special Sauce, but this one really stands apart from the rest of his discography. The title itself (a Bukka White tune) is a tip-off. A sense of loss pervades much of the album, whether permanent (he also covers Son House's "You've Got to Die") or the temporary losses of life on the road. Complementing the subject matter is the sympathetic production of Scott and Seth Avett, and the playing of the Avett Brothers band. With lots of high lonesome backing vocals and prominent banjo, this actually feels like a country album most of the time. It's almost entirely acoustic, too. We don't even hear an electric guitar until track eight, where Luther Dickenson offers up some tasty George Harrison-esque slide. It's this track and "Walk On" that most resemble Special Sauce, and they almost feel out of place here. Most of the album is far more intimate and introspective, and it's easy to see that most of these tunes wouldn't fit into the standard party/feel-good ethos of most Special Sauce tunes, but the production and playing of the Avett Brothers really make it work. After 15 years or so, it's pretty interesting to hear G. Love in such a different context. ~ Sean Westergaard, Rovi

Performer	G. Love
Music genre	Alternative
Music subgenre	Rock
Music release type	Release
Media format	CD
Original release date	2011
Edition	Standard
Language	English
Has parental advisory label	N
Number of discs	1
Series title	G. Love - Fixin to Die [CD]
Track listing	Fixin' to Die,The Road,Katie Miss,Milk and Sugar,50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,You've Got to Die,Walk on,Just Fine,Ma Mere,Get Going,Heaven,Home,Pale Blue Eyes
Record label	Brushfire Records
Music producer	Seth and Scott Avett
Track name	Fixin' to Die, The Road, Katie Miss, Milk and Sugar, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, You've Got to Die, Walk On, Just Fine, Ma mère, Get Goin', Heaven, Home, Pale Blue Eyes, 500 Mile Girl
Music media format	CD
Is edited	N
Is enhanced	N