Review Roundup: Joe Troop…
Reviewed by Chris Griffy for Concert Hopper
08.29.2021
…
Joe Troop- Borrowed Time (8/20)
Joe Troop's band Che Apalache was high on my list of favorite roots albums of 2019, a sentiment shared by outlets like NPR and No Depression, as well as the Grammy Awards, where they received a Best Folk Album nomination. After taking some time off for philanthropic work, Troop is back with a solo album that includes many of the elements that made Che Apalache special. There are special guests (Bela Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Tim O'Brien), a mixture of traditional bluegrass with South American folk, and cutting social commentary. As Che Apalache put a human face on immigrant children with the story of Moises Serrano on “The Dreamer”, Troop humanizes the criminal justice system's racial biases with the story of Dreama Caldwell, a black daycare supervisor charged when an employee endangered one of the children. Despite Caldwell not committing the crime and turning herself in willingly, she was hit with a $40,000 bail, a figure so high the court officer, who had expected $4000, had to ask for clarification. Troop also touches on being a queer man in the conservative tradition of bluegrass (“Purdy Little Rainbows”) and takes a winking poke at American Exceptionalism on “Red White and Blues” where his narrator starts off “watching Davy Crockett on TV with a bowl of mac and cheese. More butter, please,” and as an adult notes “life is an unfortunate disease. It rears you up fairy tales, then it clubs you in the knees. Roll up your sleeves. Tinkerbell ain't what she seems.” But, because 'Murica, his narrator also insists “don't hesitate. I hear the afterlife is great!”
