Album: Jerry Douglas, Traveler (Proper)

Douglas is the dobro picker of choice in cultivated Americana circles. Listen to the bugger: he's astonishing. Why wouldn't you have him on your record?

Well, here he is on his own one and everyone else has turned up to be on it: Clapton, Mumfords, Dr John, Alison Krauss, Paul Simon… And it's a good job too, because for all the virtuosity in his fingers, Jerry is no singer, and this collection of tasteful exhibits needs faces. The faces save the record.