Photo: Jay Blakesberg

By Marc Ballon

The Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s excellent new album, Barefoot in the Head, now out on Silver Arrow Records, can be summed up in one word: Freedom.

No single word better captures what namesake Chris Robinson has strived for in his nearly three-decade career, first with the fierce blues of the Black Crowes and now with the more mellow stylings of the Brotherhood. The freedom to explore nearly any type of music, from blues to country to jazz, from Southern rock to soul; the freedom to heed his inner-musical muse; the freedom to ignore musical trends and charts and instead focus on liberation, deliverance and transcendence.

Robinson hasn’t always succeeded in capturing his free bird on vinyl. A few of the Crowes albums seemed less about sturdy song craft and more about grooves. Occasionally, the Brotherhood’s gorgeous sound has gotten lost in a lazy, hazy cloud of patchouli and weed. Still, the peaks – 1992’s The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion and the Brotherhood’s Big Moon Ritual from 2012 – have soared, incorporating and expanding upon such influences as the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead and Poco.

Add Barefoot in the Head, the Brotherhood’s best effort to date, to Robinson’s list of greatest discs. Robinson, cofounding guitarist Neal Casal, keyboardist Adam MacDougall, and the new rhythm section of drummer Tony Leone, who joined in 2015, and bassist Jeff Hill, who came onboard a year later, have put out the perfect California-sounding album that brings the spirit of acoustic Dead and early 70s Laurel Canyon into 2017.

“Behold the Seer” starts things off promisingly. This rootsy rocker has a funky, infectious Little Feat groove running throughout. That’s a very good thing. Robinson, always a strong and emotive singer, has lost none of his power, despite years on the road, in the studio and on the tour bus partying. He had me at: “So put on your dancing shoes/And come on, we got nothing to lose.”

 
“She Shares My Blanket,” another standout, starts with Robinson setting the scene of a burgeoning romance with a new love, describing her: “Barefoot through the crocus among the dreaming trees.” Guitars, drums, piano and even a banjo gently wash over the mellow tune, making it the aural equivalent of Topanga Canyon on a sun-kissed summer day.

“Hark, The Herald Hermit Speaks,” perhaps the best song on the album, floats on a psychedelic stew of piano and twangy guitar. Robinson spits out trippy lyrics like a modern-day Dylan, albeit with a much stronger voice and sense of rhythm. A couple powerful guitar solos by Casal give the song some bite. “Glow,” another keeper, has a rustic charm that grows better with each listening.

Not everything works as well. “Blonde Light of Morning,” for instance, is beautiful but slight.

Still, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood has made an old-fashioned album that demands to be listened to from beginning to end. The songs create a sonic tapestry of good vibrations. So, kick off your shoes, throw a log in the fireplace, pour yourself a large glass of wine, and let the magic of music transport you.

Chris Robinson Brotherhood are on tour https://chrisrobinsonbrotherhood.com/tour-dates/ 

For more information on Barefoot in the Head by Chris Robinson Brotherhood:

Website: https://chrisrobinsonbrotherhood.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRBrotherhood/

Apple/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/barefoot-in-the-head/1232462471