Jim Lauderdale: Time Flies

Jim Lauderdale is an affirmed multi-tasker. Aside from the fact that he’s a prodigious recording artist, he’s also the host of the syndicated radio show “Music City Roots,” co-host (with Buddy Miller) of “The Buddy and Jim Show” on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country station, the ongoing emcee of the annual Americana Music Association Awards show (which recognized him with the prestigious Wagonmaster Award in 2016), owner of Sky Crunch Records and an eager collaborator with the band Donna the Buffalo, lyricist Robert Hunter and Miller. That doesn’t even include his songwriting contributions to other artists and frequent festival appearances.
It’s enough to cause his fans to wonder how he even has time to record new music. Yet, he manages to do so at a rate of speed that puts even the closest competitor to shame. He’s released some 27 albums to date and often offers up several efforts simultaneously. And his ability to shift genres at will—from country to bluegrass and various permutations in between—is nothing short of dazzling.
That’s especially evident on Lauderdale’s newest outing, Time Flies. In the expanse of the final four songs, he switches from swing (“Wild On Me Fast”) to Dixieland (“While You’re Hoping”) to hints of psychedelia (the aptly titled “It Blows My Mind”) to a brooding country tune (“If the World’s Still Here Tomorrow”). It’s an awe-inspiring demonstration of versatility, enough to fill several volumes and not merely be contained by a single one.