Blackberry Smoke The Southern Ground Sessions

Artist-Blackberry Smoke

Format-Vinyl

Manufacturer-3 Legged Records

Released-10/26/2018

Southern Ground is the name of Zac Brown's Nashville studio and that's where Blackberry Smoke hunkered down to record acoustic versions of five songs from their 2018 album, plus a cover of Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky." The latter features vocals from Amanda Shires, who also pops up on the summertime stroll of "Let Me Down Easy," her harmonies easily meshing with Charlie Starr's lead vocal. Shires is something of a star in Americana circles but the band's other guest, Oliver Wood (he appears on "Mother Mountain"), is an old friend, and The Southern Ground Sessions appropriately has a warm, cozy feel. Much of this comes from Blackberry Smoke's relaxed interplay, which is a pleasure to hear, but that ease winds up benefiting this set of recent songs, making them seem like they've been kicking around for a while. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine