Long Journey
Singer/songwriter Michael Hurley walks a thin line between camp and absurdity. On this 1976 Rounder album, he aims his satirical sights on the weird collisions of nature and popular culture ("Monkey on the Interstate") and on more-timeless themes of memory, nostalgia, and the blues. As a singer, Hurley will make no one forget Bill Monroe, but he's affecting, in his own John Prine-esque manner. The musicians who gather round his surreal narratives, including Holy Modal Rounders Peter Stampfel, Dave Reisch, and Robert Nickson, are as witty and colorful in their electro-bluegrass playing as Hurley is in his lyrics.--Roy Kasten