Follow Me Down

When your big break comes at the age of 12, jamming on-stage with the likes of Ricky Skaggs and David Grisman, people are going to be expecting a lot by the time you turn 20. Fortunately the second album by the prodigious singer-songwriter and multi– instrumentalist from Texas successfully continues along her meteoric trajectory. Her voice is developing into something much more beguiling than the spectacle of a whizz-kid anomaly.

Jarosz's crystalline, distinctly western vocal style anchors nine of the 11 tracks, many of which reflect a deepening introspection and darkening emotional bent. ‘Run Away’ establishes an eerie, ethereal mode that portends a yearning for escape into love's looming mysteries. ‘Annabelle Lee’, an adaptation of the last poem ever composed by Edgar Allen Poe, perfectly captures the morbidly romantic spirit of the original ballad. Countering the dark side, ‘Come Around’ begins with a jazzy riff from Viktor Krauss’ bass and Jarosz's octave mandolin heralding a tale of fickleness and friendship highlighted by Darrell Scott's harmonising vocals and Bela Fleck's swinging banjo licks. Jarosz's choice of covers – Radiohead's ‘The Tourist’ and Bob Dylan's ‘Ring Them Bells’ – further denotes a freewheeling muse. While Jarosz understandably gets lumped in with the rootsy Americana crowd, there's a sophisticated, kaleidoscopic vision defining her explorations. She may be from a little town outside Austin, but she studied contemporary improvisation at the New England Conservatory. Her fondness for mixing up the playlist, shuffling instrumentation around and taking chances in the studio sometimes leads to precocious overreach, but never to boredom.