#28 Gillian Welch

What's that famous line about Nick Drake's music? Something about Nick's catalog sounding like "what you'd hearing upon stepping through the gates of heaven." Whatever it is, that pretty much sums up how I felt upon hearing Gillian Welch's first record, Revival, sometime in 1996. I listened to the first track, "Orphan Girl," about 20 times before even making it past that track. It honestly wasn't that far off from how I felt when I heard Springsteen for the first time, or Uncle Tupelo. It nearly knocked me over.

Only a few months later, I saw Gillian Welch and David Rawlings open up for Son Volt at The Paradise in Boston, and it was everything I heard on record and more. Gorgeous melodies and phenomenal songwriting matched with Rawlings' breathtaking guitar chops. They closed the night, paired with the original Son Volt lineup, and blasted through a raucous take on Neil Young's "Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown." What a night, and what an introduction into what would become a two-decade long love of everything Welch released. She doesn't release records often, having only six proper records to her credit, the last being 2011's The Harrow & The Harvest, but man, what a catalog and what an outstanding songwriter, one of the best of.....all time.

Favorite record: Revival (1996)

Where are they now? Still out there touring, and hopefully soon, recording a new record.

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