Vintage Review: Aashid Himons' Mountain Soul (1998)

Aashid Himons has been a fixture of Nashville’s non-country music scene for long that it’s easy to take him for granted. One of the founders of the near-legendary “blu-reggae” band Afrikan Dreamland during the early-1980, Aashid has been the voice of conscious of the Music City’s alternative culture for almost two decades now. Whether as a musician exploring the depths of reggae, space music, or the blues; a documentary filmmaker; host of the influential Aashid Presents television show; or as a crusader for many social causes, Aashid’s multi-media talents have always been intelligent, vital, and thought-provoking.

Aashid’s Mountain Soul

Nonetheless, Aashid’s latest musical effort – the Mountain Soul CD – comes as a surprise in spite of his past track record as an innovator and trailblazer. A collection of country blues, hillbilly folk, and other traditionally-styled music, Aashid has shown us yet another facet of his immense talent with Mountain Soul’s enchanting performances. An African-American with his roots in the mountains of West Virginia, Himons explains the lineage of this material in the CD’s liner notes. In the harsh hills of Virginia and West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, African slaves often played music alongside the poor Irish and Scottish immigrants of the area. The resulting collaboration created a folk music tradition that spawned such genres as gospel, bluegrass, blues and country music.

To be honest, there aren’t many musicians these days exploring the artistic milieu that Mountain Soul showcases so nobly. On Mountain Soul, Aashid works alongside some of Nashville’s best – and most underrated – musicians, folks like Giles Reaves, fiddle wizard Tramp, and bassist Victor Wooten. Himons has created a mesmerizing song cycle that incorporates original songs written in the authentic signature of the hills as well as a handful of timeless classics. Aashid’s commanding baritone is perfectly suited to this material, whether singing a soulful, blues-infused cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child,” the mournful spiritualism of Rev. Gary Davis’ “You Got To Move,” or on originals like the moving “Stranger In Paradise” or with the talking blues and nifty guitar work on “The Crazy Blues.”

One of my personal favorites on Mountain Soul is “Mr. Bailey,” Aashid’s tribute to the first star of the Grand Ole Opry, harmonica wizard Deford Bailey. A talented and charismatic African-American musician from East Tennessee, Bailey’s lively performances popularized the Opry radio broadcast in the thirties and helped launched the careers of such country legends as Roy Acuff and Bill Monroe. Tragically, Bailey’s contributions to the Opry and American music have been forgotten. It has long been Aashid’s crusade to get Bailey his long-deserved place in the Country Music Hall of Fame, and this song is just another reminder of that glaring injustice.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Mountain Soul is definitely not an album for the casual user of music, requiring more than a three minute, radio-influenced and MTV-bred attention span. Although the album’s style and often simple instrumentation might not seem so upon first listen, these are frightfully complex songs – musically multi-layered and emotionally powerful. This is music as old as the earth itself, its origins in the blood and sweat and tears of the common people who created it.

With Mountain Soul, Aashid Himons has paid an honor to both the roots of all popular modern music and the forgotten artists who wrote it. Mountain Soul is an artistically and spiritually enriching listening experience, a musical trip through time that will clear the cobwebs out of your ears, rekindle the fire in your heart and remind you of the reasons you began to love music in the first place. (Gandibu Music, released 1998)