Beloved Ball of Wax veteran Sam Russell and his Harborrats contribute a real beauty of a country waltz to volume 34 with “The Lexington Waltz.” Everything is in its right place – from the warm, upfront vocals to the sad cowboy harmonica to the reeling fiddles once the band kicks in. Beyond the perfect traditionalist placement of the elements, however, lie a handful of tiny, beautiful strokes placed in the performance and arrangement of “The Lexington Waltz.” Russell momentarily assumes a gospel timbre to sing “Arise! Arise!” then seamlessly drops back into gear. Sparse, crystalline piano emerges from a lull in the fiddles then disappears too soon. Female harmonies make Russell’s vocal sadder rather than just prettier, creating a compelling floor of pathos. It’s all pretty remarkable.
To betray my own musical leanings (and out me as a bit of an oddball for the Ball of Wax set), Sam Russell sounds like the Platonic ideal of the weary, knowing country troubadour skewed in pastiche by David Berman and his Silver Jews. I’m sure there are more apt models/icons for this kind of music, but Russell strikes me as a sort of effortless real deal populist slinging American transcendence and heartbreak backed by confidence, authenticity and a body of work (holy crap, he has a 6 volume opus dedicated to a waitress).