Even if the world’s biggest young acoustic band, Mumford and Sons, has drawn jibes for seeming like the sorts who take themselves too seriously for some people’s taste — which may have more to do with the fact that they’ve grown more popular than any string band dares hope to — Nashville’s own Apache Relay, who opened one of Mumford’s Ryman shows, needn’t worry about getting that sort of response. Their music is all goofy, wild-eyed, lung-busting revelry. Last year’s
American Nomad, which just saw release in Canada, is earnest in the best possible way — it can draw in even the jaded listener, especially when the Relay, fronted by Michael Ford Jr., leaves it all on the stage, as they tend to do when they play live. Put it this way — when these guys cover “State Trooper,” they can make you feel what it was like to be a college kid hearing Springsteen for the first time, all over again.
— Jewly Hight