Jefferson Ross – Backstage Balladeer (2025) Jefferson Ross’ fascinating Backstage Balladeer is a self-contained project he laudably wrote, performed, produced, recorded, and mixed on his…
The songs revisit Ross’s familiar terrain: life, death, faith, doubt, and the modern American South, through a tighter, solo lens. Religion figures prominently. Lyrics ponder a Pentecostal upbringing against a well-traveled, well-read perspective, asking whether old beliefs and new ideas can coexist.
Subjects include a snake-handling mountain woman facing despair, an amusing story of a couple launching a profit-minded cult, the liberating pull of travel, and a lighthearted ode to tacos. The musical palette shifts between folk, Americana, and country across the set as Ross alternates between Fender and Martin guitars.
The result highlights Backstage Balladeer as a true one-artist statement, intimate in execution, broad in scope, and aimed at listeners who appreciate songcraft without excessive studio gloss.
Source: worldmusiccentral.org