Artist:     Marley’s Ghost

Album:     Travelin’ Shoes

Label:     Compass Records

Release Date:     2.8.2019

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Apparently filled with the Holy Spirit, Marley’s Ghost goes to church on Travelin’ Shoes, as the long-running acoustic Americana collective tries its hand at recreating a holy host of traditional gospel staples. Free of fire and brimstone, the set is mostly a blissful, joyous communion with old-timey hymns begging to be brought back to life. Nobody does it with as much reverence and divine inspiration as Marley’s Ghost.

Keeping on the sunny side, Marley’s Ghost seamlessly weaves together swirls of mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar and the like, these crafty musicians cycling through dynamic peaks and valleys with an assured sense of purpose and graceful ease. Where the band’s preceding effort, The Woodstock Sessions, showcased their stylistic diversity and seemed to be guided by the roots-infused spirit of The Band, Travelin’ Shoes finds Marley’s Ghost focused on authentic revivals of sacred music, their rich, full-bodied vocal harmonies marching forward arm in arm to the Promised Land of the Statler Brothers or the Oak Ridge Boys. An infectious “Hear Jerusalem Moan” has that in spades.

Upbeat, cheery shuffles such as “Someday” and “So Happy I’ll Be” glow with warmth, as does “Standing by the Bedside of a Neighbor.” Handclaps and a slow, bumpy road of piano gently jostle “You Can’t Stand Up Alone,” whereas “Run Come See Jerusalem” sends island breezes blowing through a little country parish. Although “Shadrack” carefully creeps along like a sinner avoiding the light, the great majority of Travelin’ Shoes’ songs are uplifting and celebratory, as Marley’s Ghost revels in the light of salvation. Even as “When Trouble’s in My Home” is clouded by worry, it doesn’t wallow in pity, not when there’s a speeding train of a title track to catch. Marley’s Ghost has its Travelin’ Shoes on and it is bound for glory.

—Peter Lindblad