Recently I have been waxing poetic about times past spent in the mountains with friends, when the mind was opening to the possibilities around the next bend, when the heart was just getting acquainted with love and loss, when swimming in a clear lake you found while hiking was the most sensible thing you could possibly do. Thankfully, I have now been provided a soundtrack to go with these musings, the three song self-titled Jude Moses. Taking a cue from the Carters, the McGarrigles, heck, maybe even the Clancy brothers, it’s all in the family as brothers Andrew and Stephen Williams emerge from their south Georgia clan to provide the listening public with rootsy songwriting goodness, pure enough for the purist.

Listening to the first track “Mistaken hands” is like boarding a train bound for glory. Stephen’s clear, plain spoken voice is gripping and the harmonies satisfy. The banjo accelerates the action with a gentle rolling motion and an interesting lyrical counterpoint at the end creates a frenzied conclusion, setting voices to flight with the repeated choral refrain: “souls colliding like mistaken hands gracing the other.”

The ballad-esque “Oak Tree” provides earthy, mystical poetry. The guitar tumbles as happily as Dylan’s on “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” alongside storybook lyrics:

I climbed the oak tree in Grandma’s backyard
To talk to the moon
It said to me son, you’ll be alright, just don’t cry
I want you, I love you
Let me hold you for a little while.

“Hold me now” bursts forth boldly with vocal agility. It is a thigh slapping, foot tapping listening adventure. A lilting chorus of voices woven throughout underlines a sense of otherworldliness hovering about these straightforward folky refrains.

Sung and played with a pointed passion and fervency, Jude Moses has arrived out of the wilderness of song with a note of authenticity. The sounds are simultaneously wild and well groomed, they leave the path wide open and full of hope for what will come next from this duo.