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It stands to reason that when the bass player of a successful band opts to make a solo album, he’d choose not to compete with his day job. So you won’t find Murry Hammond following the lead of his longtime collaborator Rhett Miller and recording a solo set that suggests his regular gig with the Old 97s is a superfluous sideline. Despite its exhaustive title, I Don’t know Where I’m Going but I’m On My Way offers a rootsy respite, one that shares its foundation with the Old 97s’ alt-country core, albeit at a more essential level. In fact, there’s more than a hint of Johnny Cash in these meditations and ruminations on mortality, spirituality, the railroad and the hereafter. Hammond takes a solemn and scholarly approach to these themes, and if some seem rather solemn and austere, the heartland authenticity remains true to tradition. Happily too, there’s enough sentiment stirred in the folk-like flourish of “In The Shadow of Clinch Mountain,” “Wreck of the 97” and “Life is Like a Mountain Railroad” to provide compelling listening, with acoustic guitar, banjo, harmonium, yodeling and whistling ensuring authenticity. It all adds up to an impressive solo foray and one that also ought to raise the worth of his stock in his regular band as well. (Hummingbird 2008)
