Old Crow Medicine Show: Live at the Ryman

Jeff Tamarkin on December 17, 2019

The fact that Old Crow Medicine Show has become so synonymous with Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium is more than a little ironic because there’s no way the country purists that once booked the venue would ever have welcomed such an edgy, rowdy, forward-looking bunch in the old days. Nonetheless, more than two decades into their career, OCMS have headlined the Ryman 20 times, becoming one of the room’s signature acts, and there’s no question that it’s the only place they should even have considered when setting out to cut a live album. You don’t need the visuals to sense the sparks flying back and forth between the stage and the seats—this band is loved, and they’ve earned their rep as a consummate Americana crew every time they’ve played the Ryman. This 11-track collection doesn’t derive from a single performance, but rather it spans 2013–2019. It covers familiar tunes from the band’s regular rotation—hyper-charged versions of “Brushy Mountain Conjugal Trailer” and “Wagon Wheel,” and a driving “Methamphetamine” are among the highlights—but some of the most satisfying tracks are the traditional numbers given the Old Crow treatment, especially the blues standard “CC Rider” augmented by War harmonica great Lee Oskar and, of course, the party-ready “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” that closes things out. There isn’t a notation citing which performances date from which show, so one can only assume, from the consistent level of virtuosity and good ol’ groovin’, that any time you might happen to catch Old Crow Medicine Show at the Nashville landmark, you’re bound to be in the vicinity of outstanding American music.