Charlie Worsham doesn’t do things by halves. If Wikipedia is right, he dropped out of the Berklee School of Music less than a semester before he graduated.
After which he went to Tennessee.
Things might have worked out, given that he’s twice won ACM Acoustic Guitar Player of the Year. Oh, and he has penned songs recorded by artists including Kenny Chesney, Luke Combs and Dierks Bentley, while working in the studio with icons like Eric Church, Kacey Musgraves, Ella Langley, Max McNown and Carrie Underwood.
The matter at hand here, though, is his third full-length album.
“Powers That Be” craves one thing: freedom. Three minutes of effortless catchiness gets the record moving before “Whiskeysippi” tries to drink her memory away—and does it brilliantly. “Wrap My Porch Around” is jaunty, almost perfect modern country, delivered with genuine acoustic back-porch intent.
Me? I wouldn’t have a clue where to start with DIY, and neither would my dad, but “Blue Collar And A Purple Heart” salutes the working-class heroes who do. These are the everymen and everywomen country music has always spoken to, and this is a country song in every sense.
Where much of the record is short and sharp, “They Never Do” is allowed to breathe. A clever break-up song featuring Lainey Wilson, it also provides another vehicle for the supreme acoustic playing that colours the album. “Grass” makes life in the South sound idyllic—and, yes, the double meaning lands—while “Family Man” offers an equally warm picture of contentment.
“Years Go By” fits a whole life into three minutes and 18 seconds, although Stephen Wilson Jr.’s magnificent performance rather steals the show. The title track begins in a Methodist basement, where two divorced people find love for a second time. Its refusal to bother with fairy tales is precisely what makes it so convincing.
Funnily enough, I was talking to a friend the other day about songs that can make memories come flooding back. “Good Hurt,” the only entirely acoustic track here, will doubtless do that for many. “Pencil ’raser” supplies a little fun and proves Worsham has no need to go back to the drawing board, before The Travelin’ McCourys turn “Wrap My Porch Around” into a spot of dazzling bluegrass and underline what a brilliant song it is.
Once Upon A Second Time Around is a superb record: rooted deeply in the country spirit without ever sounding dated. Second time around? More like third time lucky.
8.5/10
