Eddie From Ohio

Legions of loyal Edheads gobble up every tune quirky acoustic- rock quartet Eddie From Ohio has put out. This Is Me—the group’s ninth album on its own Virginia Soul label—once again leans heavily on the folk tradition, but this time sounds more electric, more Americana, and even more countrified, thanks to picker/producer Lloyd Maines.

“We’ve been moving more towards country in the past few years,” singer/guitarist Robbie Schaefer says. “When you work with Lloyd, that country feel is going to be there. It was what we wanted. And we wanted to use electric bass, electric guitar and get a more rootsy Americana feel with slide guitar, dobro and steel. He’s made a career out of doing stuž like that and he can meld Americana—which I think is an overused term—with country and roots-rock music.”

On previous albums, Schaefer says, the tunes were rehearsed, taken to the studio and recorded with minimum fuss. This time the process was more open-ended. “Lloyd brings a sense a freedom,” he says. “He created a work atmosphere that made us feel free to experiment, have fun and screw up, without it becoming a free-for-all. There was a great balance, and he understood where we wanted to be from the get-go.”