There is one thing I have grown to know. When a package comes in the mail bearing the seal of Yellow Dog Records, good things are hidden within. This time, the good thing was Chris Cotton.

If I’d paid more attention or lived in the Bay Area in California, I would have noticed the name. Formerly the front man for The Blue Eyed Devils, Cotton has taken matters into his own hands and put out an incredible solo album. On I Watched the Devil Die, Cotton pushes through twelve well-crafted songs that bear various aspects of the Americana/roots/blues tradition.

With an informal, random group of accompanying musicians backing Cotton up, I Watched the Devil Die feels like the jam session it was. But somehow this concoction of Cotton on guitar and vocals, Hamilton Rott on fiddle, Lee Williams on drums, Barry Bays on bass and Adam Woodard on piano was magic in the studio. In two days of studio sessions, these musicians (and a number of special guests) produced a record of pure American music that is accessible to the average listener.

While it’s not slickly produced and probably won’t find its way to popular radio stations, this is an album with staying power. I Watched the Devil Die is one of those albums like The Band’s Greatest Hits or Neil Young’s Harvest Moon. It has qualities of one of the albums you grew up listening to with more memories attached than a photo album. Countless road trips, heartbreaks and various other memorable life events will take place with I Watched the Devil Die accompanying.

Finally…This album is of the rare breed that displays skill and has instant nostalgia value. While your initial reaction may be to wonder where a California boy gets off tampering with primarily Southern music, you’ll end this disc with a more important question in mind: where is he going next?