With a resonant baritone voice that would be at home in country music as easily as the straight-ahead bluegrass Chris Jones inhabits, a black cowboy hat wouldn’t be out of place atop his head. It would join a number of others—a songwriter’s sombrero, a radio host’s homburg, a guitar picker’s panama, a sideman’s stovepipe, or a bandleader’s beret—depending on the day’s assignment.
A hatter would be kept busy with “Cloud Of Dust,” the latest album with his group, the Night Drivers, with eight of fourteen songs written or cowritten by Jones, who sings lead and plays guitar from top to bottom. He’s won IBMA awards in more than one category, including as a songwriter, and the imposing batch included here should provide listeners with pleasure and give other performers fresh, distinctive material for their repertoire. The Night Drivers, a fine group, is Ned Luberecki (banjo and vocals), Jon Weisberger (bass and vocals), Mark Stoffel (mandolin), and Aaron Till (fiddle and vocals). The healthy guest list includes singers Darrin Vincent, Sally Jones, Shawn Lane, and fiddler/singer Jeremy Garrett, resonator guitarist Mike Witcher, and fiddler Megan Lynch.
As the years have passed, a very slight hint of grit has only added to Jones’s full, expressive, and tonally accurate pipes, especially affecting on the traditional gospel track “Come On Little Children.” Other highlights include his beautifully darktoned original “What You Do,” the exuberant “Cloud Of Dust,” and the waltzing Jones/Weisberger cut, “Silent Goodbye.” There are no bland tracks to be found here. A nice bit of spice comes on the Jones/Luberecki instrumental, “Draw For 5,” giving the usual bluegrass banjo number a couple of subtle twists.
