Despite the fact that they hail from Germany, Bluegrass Cash leaves no doubt as to some inherent American influences. Their name references the fact that early on, they claimed to be the first band in the world wholly dedicated to doing the songs of Johnny Cash in a bluegrass motif.
In most cases, being a proverbial one-trick pony can prove detrimental to any artist or ensemble attempting to prove a certain variety or versatility. To their combined credit then, Bluegrass Cash — founder, bandleader, lead singer, and rhythm guitarist Martin Voogd, fiddler, mandolin player and harmony vocalist Paul Bremen, bassist, fiddle player and high tenor harmony singer Rainer Diekamp, banjo player and harmony singer Steffen Thede, and more recent recruit singer Kikki Géron — have opted to expand their reach courtesy of their third album, No One Stands Alone, a set of songs flush with new inspiration and influences.
In this case, they source songs that Cash himself covered, but that also stood apart within the original incarnations. Their riveting remake of the Johnny and June signature song, Long-Legged Guitar Pickin’ Man, becomes an anchor of sorts, but with covers of the traditional tune, Fair and Tender Ladies, the classic trucker anthem, Six Days On the Road, Tennessee Ernie Ford’s Sixteen Tons, the great gospel hymn, I’ll Fly Away, and such seminal standards as Proud Mary and Gentle On My Mind, there’s a decided dexterity. Each offering draws from bluegrass basics, with banjo, fiddle, and mandolin accentuating the arrangements in often unexpected ways.
“We find an America in these songs that consist of the stories that Americans, mostly poor and powerless, have been telling each other and themselves about their land, their lives, their struggles,” they say by way of explanation in the album’s extensive liner notes.
Nevertheless, the biggest surprise of all is offered in the form of the great Beatles ballad In My Life. It’s totally transformed even while maintaining the sadder sentiment that inspired the original.
Indeed, given the insight and emotion imbued in the music overall, No One Stands Alone affirms a mantra that lingers in and of itself.
