I’m not usually one for country or folk, just as a personal preference I’ve found, and that can tend to taint my opinions when coming into a listen. I do enjoy stepping outside my area of comfort, though, and that’s definitely the feeling I had when taking a stab at Grab a Bucket.
Bailey Allen Baker is a singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist out of Coeur d’Alene, whom I’ve managed to catch live on a few occasions out at places like the Black Lodge. Though only one full-length album has been released so far, Grab a Bucket in 2023, it is an immensely dense listen, with heavy emphasis placed on the lyricism and the length itself, with most songs clocking in around 5 minutes and some stretching close to 8. It’s a trip to listen, edging in on experimental with how far the genre stretches at the corners of normalcy.
Songs jump around from Irish Folk-esque to psychedelic, lo-fi to classic country. While the idea is interesting, I found the vocals to remain a bit stagnant across all the tracks. Baker sort of talk-sings in a way that reminds me vaguely of Cash, but spoken more with the intonations of someone like Jello Biafra? Though I could be making that up. While it works for some tracks, it also works to its detriment at points, homogenizing the tracks and losing some of that individuality, and causing a bit of a disorienting feel.
My favorite track is the bonus track following the end of the album, Sarasota Songbird. The low fidelity feel works well with the more conversational tone, and he does something slightly different with the vocals that works in favor of the track in terms of flow.
Overall, it was an enjoyable listen, and it’s always nice to see some direct representation out of the CDA area in the music scene, so if you have the chance to catch him live, I do recommend taking the time.