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Dave Rowe: “The Music Never Dies”

A couple of tracks into the Dave Rowe Trio's new record, "The Music Never Dies," a good pair of ears can get a sense of what the Raymond-based bluegrassers are after this time around.

Part tribute to players and pickers gone by, part original material and part meditation, the collection shines with individual performances, a rock 'n' roll bassist and passionate ringleader in Rowe, who gives his home state plenty of shout-outs.

If you don't know what the trio's all about, a good starting point is the original "Keeper of the Light," with all three players inside a '70s groove, belting out on-point harmonies like they were opening for the Doobie Brothers.

Unfortunately, though, ballads are harder than upbeat numbers in bluegrass music. With the kickers, people are stomping, and there's the advantage of a collective energy to feed off of between artist and audience.

The old-form strophic love song, especially performed solo, is a heavy burden to bear, and even the best newgrass crooners suffer its hazards. This record feels appropriately loose and spirited when the trio nails its vocals and plays together, but the solo numbers, like the overwrought "On Holy Ground," are too soaked in gooey intimacy.

It's always better to pour it on and get people moving as on one of the purest bright spots on the album, the sunny instrumental "Splitting Wood in Flip-Flops," which has some serious dancing potential. Guitars and mandolins draft off one another in the lead, the bass joins, and the trio is built from the bottom up. It sounds fantastic, and proves that camaraderie pays. "Ramblin' Boy" makes the same case through vocals, with soaring, smooth three-part over a laid-back bass line. These guys draw an authentic collective voice from old-school teamwork.

"The Music Never Dies" is well-recorded and technically precise, prerequisites for breaking into the scene and creating some buzz. The fact is, though, the album could actually use a mess or two. Rowe can afford to take more risks, reach a little further and delve into much darker material if he wants to reach out to a younger fan base.

Nickel Creek ditched the traditionals, blazed a trail for bluegrass (on the L.L. Bean circuit!), and became superstars in the process. Rowe and his players can have all that, but they may have to trash a drumset or two first.

Mike Olcott is a freelance writer who lives in Portland.