Album review: Buddy and Julie Miller's 'Written in Chalk'

The word that seems to crop up with greater frequency than any other here is "goodbye." Loss and how it affects the human spirit are central in these dozen songs, most of them written by Julie and sung alternately, or occasionally together, by her and her guitarist-producer husband.

This uncommonly moving collection, only the second from the first couple of Americana music, opens with the reflective "Ellis County," written by Julie "for Momma," according to the CD's lovely booklet containing the lyrics and credits. Buddy, in that scratchy no-nonsense voice of his, sings her lyrics of yearning for a simpler era "when all we could afford was laughter / and two mules instead of a tractor." Then comes the deeper wish to revisit a time "when I could feel the kiss of my mother / And I had all my sisters and brothers."

There's a sense of timelessness rooted in rural America, along with a stripped-down musical ambience, that makes this a worthy companion to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' "Raising Sand," for which Buddy was part of their touring band. That connection resulted in Plant's guest spot on a delightfully squirrelly arrangement of Mel Tillis' "What You Gonna Do Leroy," recorded live in a dressing room during that tour last year.

Like Plant and Krauss, the Millers find light within the darker recesses of human experience, notably in the lusty "Gasoline and Matches" and the enigmatic character sketch "Memphis Jane." And there's real sweetness along with the sadness in "June," written by Julie on the night June Carter Cash died.

To these two, faith provides the gains that can help offset the pain that typically accompanies loss. "We don't know all the trouble we're in. . . . Jesus come and save us from our sin," Buddy sings in a duet with Patty Griffin. And "all our words are written down in chalk," he sings earlier, "out in the rain on the sidewalk." Maybe so. But the truth in them is waterproof.

-- Randy Lewis

Buddy and Julie Miller
"Written in Chalk"
(New West)
Four stars

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[krammet]

lsten online Written In Chalk here- http://ligamusic.com/Artist/2233885/Buddy_And_Julie_Miller/mp3/