Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Over the years, revered Nashville singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer Buddy Miller has hosted live sessions with an array of musician friends aboard a 2300 person cruise ship and, sensing he had something special on his hands, the veteran artist has released an informal live recording of a 2012 session with a host of country luminaries lending a hand. Backed by the earthy country sound that Miller and his band have become famous for, big wigs like Lee Ann Womack, Shawn Colvin and Kris Kristofferson drop in - the latter offering up a desperately convincing piece of down-on-your-luck country in "Sunday Morning Coming Down" that seems to typify the mood of the whole album. Elsewhere, the likes of Claude Boone's "Wedding Bells" (featuring English folk artist Richard Thompson on vocals) captures the overarching feeling of despair whilst the adultery-justifying "After The Fire Is Gone" and a version of the Rolling Stones classic "Wild Horses" - by Womack and Colvin respectively - further add to the seemingly hopeless gloom. Only the Doug Seegers-led "Take The Hand Of Jesus" offers any emotional respite during what seems like a deeply melancholic but undoubtedly artistically accomplished time aboard the good ship Cayamo.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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