Chris Hillman And Herb Pedersen - Way Out West (2002)

When these two comrades of California roots music get together, sailing sparks always seem to follow. As a sequel to 1996's Bakersfield Bound, Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen reunite with the hot-picking members of their legendary Desert Rose Band to find common ground between bluegrass, Cajun, honky-tonk, Tex-Mex, and country rock. Though neither is a hall-of-fame lead singer, their proficient, brotherly harmonies galvanize these excellent originals--six by Hillman, two by Pedersen--and standards by folks like Roger Miller, Ray Price, and the Louvin Brothers. And on their urgent version of the Monroe Brothers' "Old Cross Road" they really do sound like kin separated at birth. Though Hillman and Pedersen sing and play with a mastery conferred by 40 years in traditional and not-so-traditional country music, they haven't lost the passion or thrill of musical discovery. --Roy Kasten