The Great American Yard Sale

While Mark Lemhouse's background is heavily drenched in the blues, his musical approach could be more broadly described on The Great American Yard Sale as Americana. He doesn't mind a slow, grinding rock version of "Cluck Old Hen" or a slashing rocker like "Scarlet," but neither does he mind breaking out the banjo on the drinking ode "Paper Sack" and an old-time-sounding ballad like "Never Me." It's not just that Lemhouse has the ability to change from slashing electric to acoustic guitar, or that he can move from hard-driving blues to old-time banjo; he's also capable of altering his vocal style from grizzly bluesman to folksy to rock star. And while this may sound more eclectic than a Gourds album, and perhaps disjunctive, it melds together quite well, like the more basic meaning of "Americana" and like a great American yard sale — because in essence, The Great American Yard Sale is less a celebration of diversity than a kitchen-sink approach to roots music. Will acoustic guitar, Dobro, and a back-porch vocal work on "The Unofficial Ballad of Story Musgrave"? Will a full-blown blues band righteously underline "The Queen of Easy Street"? The result of this approach is an album that manages to stay interesting until its high-stepping, fun-filled closer, "You're a Bastard." ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi