ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Renée Fleming is an artist I’ve been a fan of for a long time due to her absolutely incredible voice and overall career, so when I heard she was releasing a collaborative album with banjo player Béla Fleck and other music stars, I figured it would be an album worth listening to, especially since the album has apparently been in the works for multiple years at this point.

And I was ultimately proven VERY right. With 10 songs at slightly less than 45 minutes, the album, titled “The Fiddle and the Drum,” is very sweet and calm and features multiple Americana standards.

To start off, Fleming’s vocals remain unmatched, and she is able to bring each song to life in such a wonderful way. I’m more used to hearing her more operatic work, so it was slightly jarring hearing her singing in this type of style, but she really pulls it off. Fleming harmonizes so, so well with the other artists she collaborates with on the album, including (but not limited to!) Dolly Parton, Vince Gill and Jerry Douglass, and I just love how everyone comes together on the songs on the album. Since I’m a huge fan of Dolly Parton, that duet was a particular favorite of mine, and I wouldn’t exactly be angry to hear about future collaborations between the two. I could also tell Fleming had a wonderful time with these songs, and there was a lot of effort and time put toward making them sound as good as possible, and Fleck’s banjo work fit the songs absolutely perfectly.

All of the songs on the album are good, but the one that particularly stood out to me was “The Fiddle and the Drum.” The song is originally by Joni Mitchell from all the way back in the Vietnam War era, and it astounded me how much the song rings true all the way into 2026. The lyrics “You say I have turned/Like the enemies you've earned/But I can remember/All the good things you are/And so I ask you please/Can I help you find the peace and the star/Oh, my friend/What time is this/To trade the handshake for the fist” definitely represent the feelings of U.S. citizens about their fellow citizens and how far we’ve devolved toward each other. The next lyrics, “And so once again/Oh, America my friend/And so once again/You are fighting us all/And when we ask you why/You raise your sticks and cry and we fall/Oh, my friend/How did you come/To trade the fiddle for the drum” definitely represent the feelings of other countries regarding this country’s current leadership. There are many people who say – and not entirely inaccurately, based on recent events – the U.S. has become not only its own worst enemy, but also the world’s current biggest antagonist. This album was my first time hearing this song, and I can’t express how absolutely shaken I was after hearing it. Frankly though, there wasn’t a single bad song on the album, so listeners can’t go wrong at any point while listening.

I also liked how this album is so simple and calm. Normally when I listen to music here at the office, I look for music with a little extra pep to help keep me going as I do my work, but I listened to this on a day when I happened to be in the mood for something with a more calming influence, and it absolutely ended up being the right choice. And with the album featuring primarily folk/Americana music, there’s a chance listeners will come across one or two songs they remember listening to when they were growing up. So if you’re looking something a little more calm, “The Fiddle and the Drum” is a good one to cue up.

Overall, I very much enjoyed listening to the “The Fiddle and the Drum” album, and I would give it a solid “A” grade. Fleming’s vocals remain amazing as usual, and even though she’s more known for her opera work, she’s able to blend and harmonize so, so well with her duet partners, especially Dolly Parton and Vince Gill, and the end result is very positive. All of the song choices are also very good, with a particular standout for me being “The Fiddle and the Drum” due to how prevalent it remains even though it’s all the way from the Vietnam War era. I also liked how the album is very calm and sweet, and it was definitely the right choice for me the day I came across it while working. If you’re a fan of Americana music or any of Fleming’s other work, this album is definitely a good one to cue up.