It's been 20 years since Acoustic Alchemy released their first major label album, Red Dust and Spanish Lace.  The acoustic guitar duo was an intriguing configuration and their spacious hypnotic melodies created a sound that was immediately identifiable. Their playing so expressive that they could evoke a feeling wordlessly, letting the listener imagine it into their personal context. Listen to “Same Road, Same Reason” and visualize a long road heading either toward or away from something that leaves you wistful but not quite sure why. Combine the title and the first few notes of “Mister Chow” and it's hard not to get a visual of some strange little guy opening a mystery door and bidding you to enter. Over the years they have spread that imaginative strain over a startling amount of musical styles without ever losing that core sound- that distinctive note, chord or melody line that catches your ear and says “Acoustic Alchemy.” So picking one album out of 14 that have favorite songs scattered throughout is daunting, but if asked I would say grab Against The Grain. It's diverse, innovative and timeless. I was working in music retail when it was released and every time we played it in the store it was a musical magnet that drew people to the counter to find out what it was and buy it. Just for fun a few weeks ago, 13 years later, I dared a friend who works in one of those big box stores to sneak it on the sound system and see what happened and it had the same effect!

Against the Grain was the duo's seventh album, released in 1994. It was actually the last studio album of original material that Nick Webb was present for through its completion. Arcanum, the follow up, was a live retrospective and by the time work had begun on Positive Thinking Webb was battling cancer. He co-wrote the songs and participated in the recording process as much as he could but as his health declined long time compatriot John Parsons ended up playing most of his guitar parts during the final sessions. It was a benchmark project that found them playing freely with sound and influence - pulling in threads from flamenco, rock, pop, folk, country, jazz, and even dance and electronica and seamlessly melding them into the band's musical identity.

The opener is a tour-de-force that sets the tone and affirms its title. Putting acoustic guitars over a dance beat on a “smooth jazz” album is definitely going Against The Grain. Thunderbolt sound effects and an electronic sizzle underscore dark piano chordings that segue into a high intensity dual guitar throwdown. That interplay just keeps gaining momentum until it breaks wide open then fades back into thunder, lightning, piano and a bluesy guitar line. The spirited flamenco flavored “Lazeez” lightens up texturally but keeps the tempo going. A Different Kind Of Freedom finds them exploring African rhythms and chordings over percussionist Luis Jardin's driving beat and vocal effects. “Lady Lynda” returns to the graceful flowing texture that makes their ballads so captivating.

“Noveau Tango” is another of those songs that comes with a visual and an undercurrent of humor. You can see two people tangoing across the dance floor then stopping, pivoting, tossing their heads and continuing in the other direction guided by to those whimsical stops and starts. “Shoot The Loop,” which got a fair amount of airplay at the time is another genre bending showcase. They take a funky percolating electoro-loop, bring in some percussion then start layinger guitar leads in the front and sonic ear candy in the back. The unpredictablity peaks toward the end when Nashville studio whiz Jerry Douglas bending and stretching notes on a Dobro like it was a rock guitar lead. “Road Dogs” travels an entirely different road, bringing in folk-rock influences that make it sound like one of James Taylor's finest with the guitars doing the singing. Terry Disley's elegant solo piano opens Papillion with an almost classical ambiance, then the song breaks into a jazzy late night groove that resembles a subdued “Take Five.”

It takes extraordinary skill to take all these elements and fuse them into a project that is so cohesive and sounds like such a natural expression of the musicians who are creating it. When it was released the jazz police bashed it as generic and “new-agey,” which makes you wonder if they bothered to listen before they wrote. A segment of fans were shocked at first by the departure from acoustic purity, but that had been foreshadowed on previous releases. Most of their music does hold up well over time, that's what happens when gifted musicians write and play at this level and use technology sparely and creatively. There is so much nuance in these songs that even after all these years you can play any one of them and hear something new. After Webb's passing the band would evolve and change but they've always kept that intangible vibe makes their music inimitable and a lot of the themes they would continue to build started to reveal themselves here. Against The Grain is another one of those CDs that remind us of what this music can be when formula gets thrown to the wind and gifted musicians just play what they feel.

- Shannon West