Old Crow Medicine Show - Live at Third Man Records

Old Crow Medicine Show sound like they are playing for their lives on Live at Third Man Records, ten songs cut straight to acetate in one take, with no overdubs.

The night in question came in 2022, when the Nashville string band played a sold-out release show for Paint This Town in the Blue Room at Third Man Records. Jack White's label fed the performance through a 1955 Scully lathe that once lived at King Records in Cincinnati, so what lands in the grooves is exactly what happened in the room, fiddle squeaks, whoops and all.

The set leans on Paint This Town material. The title track opens with a stomp, Bombs Away keeps the pulse racing, and Reasons to Run lets those tight harmonies breathe. DeFord Rides Again tips its hat to Grand Ole Opry harmonica pioneer DeFord Bailey, while John Brown's Dream digs into the band's old-time fiddle and banjo roots.

By the time they tear into a rowdy Fight for Your Right, the Blue Room sounds ready to come off its hinges.

For anyone who has caught Old Crow on a good night, this is about as close as vinyl gets to bottling it, and for newcomers it is a loud, joyful argument for string music played fast.