Jaelee Roberts’ debut collection Something You Didn’t Count On, as first albums go, is virtually unassailable. It’s a near-note-perfect model for what modern bluegrass should sound like if widespread appeal is the goal. The last part of the preceding sentence is what we call a caveat.
Many musicians, songwriters, and/or performers cannot balance commercial interests and artistic integrity. Others do not care. They’ll utilize any musical vehicle available to help them turn a buck, but there’s no heart in it no matter how “good” it sounds.
Roberts avoids all of that because she feels this music. She’s lived it and it’s a part of her core. It isn’t any stretch at all to believe after hearing her gentle and soulful vocal during the album’s title song and the keen ear she exhibits negotiating with each instrument. Jimmy Mattingly is right behind Roberts as one of the most important players recruited for this release and his versatile fiddle playing sets the title song apart even more.
She has no difficulty with arch-traditional material such as “I Owe Him Everything”. Jaelee is an active songwriter but doesn’t shy away from other songwriters; their contributions are essential to Something You Didn’t Count On’s success and give Jaelee the raw material to fashion her magic.
The subject matter of Jaelee’s songs shares a common thread. She’s wrestling with love and its myriad disappointments over the course of the album’s dozen songs and her takes on it range from rue, regret, dispassionate, and so much more. They are universal songs. The Stevie Nicks-penned gem “Landslide” is a modern standard at this point, no longer the FM radio classic of yore, and it’s an excellent choice for a cover.
“The Best of Me” has a theme common on the albums of young songwriters, but the music isn’t common. No one can dispute that Roberts is a first-class guitarist who eschews any sort of showboating in favor of serving the song. Vocal harmonies are always a hallmark of the greatest bluegrass and there are many such moments spread over the course of the collection. One of the best vocal performances yet comes with the track “November” and she’s tailored a swaying and near-hypnotic arrangement for accentuating its presentation.
Something You Didn’t Count On settles in a mode of meditative and melodic elegance for the bulk of the release. The lack of meaningful variation will chafe a few listeners, for sure, but there’s also no disputing the exquisite musical control present in every performance. “Still Waters” features the same roll call of components that you hear in the best Roberts material. It has a wearying quality, however, as if we’ve been here before.
The concluding tracks, however, shift gears. The romping pace of “You Can’t Stop Me from Staying” is breezy without ever taking a facile turn; the same commitment to excellence remains in the music and lyrics alike. “The Beginning Was the End” takes a turn into bluesy territory and it’s thoroughly successful. Jaelee Roberts has the same excellent control over her voice during this song as she does over the course of Something You Didn’t Count On. It’s always interesting and brimming with musicality and feeling.
Chadwick Easton