Robbie Fulks, Master of Alt-Country, Finally Plants Both Feet in the World of Acoustic Pickers With ‘Bluegrass Vacation’
variety.comChris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic To say that Robbie Fulks has been one of the best singer-songwriters in American roots music over the last quarter-century would be correct, and maybe a little reductive, too; he’s one of the best writers in America, period.
It might be tempting to append the word “unsung,” since Fulks’ regular touring since the late ’90s has usually found him playing sub-SoFi rooms — like Hotel Cafe, where he’ll be appearing May 20.
But his reputation as one of American’s modern masters precedes him in many places where it counts, whether it’s the two Grammy nominations he’s picked up in folk and roots categories, or his renown for acoustic shredding landing him on the cover of guitar magazines, or just the company of the players that are drawn to him.
Fulks has long been pegged — not inaccurately — as an essential alt-country guy, having emerged out of the Chicago rocking-roots scene with his first album for Bloodshot in 1996, the ironically titled “Country Love Songs,” which included songs that are still nightly requests in his set like “She Took a Lot of Pills (and Died)” and the Buck Owens homage “The Buck Starts Here.” But in his most recent albums he leaned harder into a more austere folk tradition and now, on his just-released debut for Compass Records, Fulks has planted both feet squarely in bluegrass, for the moment.
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