It’s been eight years since Gillian Welch released Soul Journey in collaboration with David Rawlings, but this week she ended the wait for new material with The Harrow & The Harvest. The singer appeared on Conan O’Brien’s show last night (June 28) to perform “The Way It Goes” from that record, which bears the kind of rustic country sound that Welch has established over many years in the business. The story behind that gap in releases is simply one of quality control, with Welch feeling like she didn’t care for anything she was recording enough to put it out in the world—a rare quality these days. But Welch has never paid much mind to prevailing trends, and this performance offers ample evidence that she’s got her songcraft back on track. [via The Audio Perv]
