Bonnie 'Prince' Billy — Beware

Beware

Drag City

Ian Gormely (CHARTattack)

03/20/2009 1:25pm

Under his Bonnie 'Prince' Billy alter-ego, Will Oldham had quietly plucked away at a career as an indie folk hero for years.

Then a new generation of indie bands discovered Dylan and The Band's Basement Tapes and started falling over each other while reaching for banjos and acoustic guitars. Though the fervor over this sound may have peaked, Oldham shows no signs of slowing down, with Beware being his eighth full-length release since 1999.

Beware mixes Oldham's more recent country leanings with the Appalachian folk that first brought the Kentucky native to prominence. As always, he's augmented by a rotating cast of backing musicians who move seamlessly between moody dirges ("Heart's Arms") and soulful blues laments ("My Life's Work").

Despite releasing new material at a breakneck pace, Oldham retains a sense of quality control that other artists in his position lack (read: Ryan Adams). His dedication to making each record and the songs they contain just a little different shows a devotion to a career rather than a fleeting trend. That will keep Oldham's records spinning for years to come.

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