Best Records Of 2005-Ashes To Dust

This is the first in a series of profiles of my favorite records from the year. There are still more than two months left and lots of upcoming releases. But I've already decided on several great records that resonated with me.

Ashes To Dust-William Elliott Whitmore
William Elliott Whitmore is one of the more surprising artists I've encountered this year. I didn't know his work until I heard one of his songs on a college radio station while driving to the Pocono Mountains back in July. His instruments are few: a banjo, an acoustic guitar, and, oh yes, a gravelly voice scourged with years of pain and hardship that seems to stretch clear back to his upbringing on a farm on the banks of the great Mississippi River. His songs speak, holler really, about love: love gained, only to be lost, and about death. "Lift My Jug (Song For Hub Cale)" is maybe the standout track of the record, being that it has a type of energy that helps it rise above some of the other more downbeat cuts.

The real shocker came in August when I saw him perform at Rex's in West Chester, Pennsylvania, more typically a venue for what passes for punk these days. Instead of an aged rootsy bluesman, it was a tattoed, goateed 26-year old who held the room spellbound with that unflinching voice.

He'll be in Philadelphia at the First Unitarian Church on Wednesday, November 16. Here's the rest of his schedule.

From the 2005 record Ashes To Dust, you should check out:

Midnight

From the 2003 record Hymns For The Hopeless, you should check out:

Cold And Dead