Welch to bring folk mix to Dionysus

Gillian Welch is a performer who shines. Apparently many of her critics agree, for her first album, 1996's Revival, was included on more than a dozen album-of-the-year lists.

But her appearance on critics' lists is not the reason one should see Welch perform when she comes to Oberlin next week. See her because she, along with her partner David Rawlings, simply write some of the most intelligent folk-country music on the market.

Like her contemporaries, Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams, Welch refrains from employing fake, overwrought clich�s. Her music is achy and sad, warm and smooth. It passes a basic music test: after listening to her album, one feels on intimate terms with the artist and her music.

Welch has a new album out entitled Hell Among the Yearlings. It is small and spare sounding: a couple of guitars, a banjo and occasionally an organ. A lovely example of this is the album's early track, "Good Till Now." "I went walking with / A girl pure as milk," Welch sings in her recognizable soft twang. The simple lyricism is a captivating element.

Welch, in an interview for Billboard, said, "Part of what happened is that with Revival, I was trying to write very sparely and traditionally but sort of fell short. I think with this record, I was simply two more years down the road and was able to write in a slightly more traditional way."

Born in southern California, she now resides in Nashville, which seems to be the ideal place for her to fine-tune her craft. Her influences are staples of the folk-country genre: Patsy Cline, Woody Guthrie and lots of bluegrass artists.

Much of what Welch writes is reminiscent of old 78s from the 20s and 30s. With today's obsession with everything retro and antique, Welch fits in comfortably. She doesn't cram everything into quick pop ditties; rather, like the above influences, she takes her sweet time to tell stories. Her music might be best served with a glass of iced-tea, a rocking chair and a back porch.

Acoustic Guitar magazine relays Welch's experience when she first heard the bluegrass band the Stanley Brothers. "I just loved the quality of their voices. It was tough and raw and really emotional. I remember the first time I heard them, I thought 'That's what I should sing...that's what my voice does. Here is a kind of music that I really ought to play." She does, and she plays it so very well.