John Hartford's Down on the River is an old-timey tribute to the Mississippi River and its steamboats, casinos and saloons, filled with campy salutes to a forgotten lifestyles, as well as surprisingly affectionate paens to a lost era.
Hartford's approach may be too kitschy for some -- after all, there are several songs driven by calliope -- yet its a thoroughly entertaining album for listeners that share his obsessions, or at least his fondness for fine, old-timey banjo. ~ Thom Owens