Over The Rhine has been laboring many years just outside of the spotlight, creating music and friendships of admiration little by little.  With their new double album, Ohio (Back Porch/Virgin), they have put themselves in a position to make many more friendships, in particular, the kind that deepen with time and attention.  Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler opted for the double album rather than submit themselves to an unnatural process of cutting songs to fit into a neat commercial package.  It’s an interesting move for a relatively unknown group, but definitely the right one.  Long time fans will be very pleased (some may even pursue owning a copy of the special edition on vinyl).

The songs are an understated form of Americana – a little southern gospel here, a little folk rock there, and a jazz vibe sprinkled around for good measure.  Each tune has its own subtle, brooding power.  Linford and Bergquist have crafted them in simplicity from a musical standpoint – primarily a mix of acoustic and steel guitars, and piano, with touches of organ scattered here and there for highlights.   The best used instrument here, though, is Berquist’s voice.  She uses it with confidence, savvy, and elegance, without ever feeling the need to sell herself as a vocalist.  She is at her best when accompanied by the jangly, slightly-out-of-tune chords of an upright piano, as in “Jesus in New Orleans” and the opening track of disc one, “B.P.D.”

Ohio is full of self-reflective statements that tie OtR to times, places, and people.  As the breadth of their audience grows, it seems as though they are determined to stay rooted in their own space.  The album’s title song is an autobiographical ode to the place they call home, “Hello Ohio/I know Ohio like the back of my hand . . . And it’s strange to see your story end.”  Their home is also intertwined with love and loss, as evidenced on songs like “When You Say Love,” and “What I’ll Remember Most.”  There are several poignant moments of  a life in which love, God, family, and even politics are intertwined in an effort to find the depth of meaning in all of them at once.  The best example is on “Changes Come,” where Bergquist calls out in the middle of a swirl of love and despair “Jesus come/Turn the world around/Lay my burden down/Turn the world around/Bring the whole thing down/Bring it down.”  There is a consistent search for redemption throughout both discs, coming to a crescendo on the hidden track at the end of disc two, “Idea #21 (Not Too Late),” with a gospel choir backing Bergquist.

The longer you listen to these songs, the more they become a part of you, regardless of where you’re from, what your background.  They tell stories of people and places you may not know, but they cause you to remember the people and places you do know.   They are worth the investment of time, and worth the efforts required to put them all together on this project.

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