Knit to This: Teddy & Jenni Do Porter & Dolly

There are few things that rev me up as much as a good old-time, old-fashioned, old-school country duet. I’m such an aficionado of them that if I meet you at a party (it could happen), it’s fairly likely that at some point you will hear me going on about the subtle differences between duets by Conway/Loretta (fussin’) and George/Tammy (feudin’) and Porter/Dolly (cryin’). That—in a nutshell—is the breakdown. Lesson over!

But hold up now! Here come Teddy Thompson and Jenni Muldaur with Teddy & Jenni Do Porter & Dolly: A Tribute to the Duets of Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, and it’s just the sweetest lil’ batch of songs that don’t mess around too much. Thompson and Muldaur just plant their feet right in the middle of the song and remind you why these were great duets in the first place. Each one is barely over two minutes long, so you can knock the whole thing out in the best ten minutes of your life.

I’m particularly fond of their take on “Put it Off Until Tomorrow,” which is just a flat-out heartbreaker of the best cry-in-your-beer kind.

There’s apparently a plan for Thompson and Muldaur to take on a few Conway/Loretta and George/Tammy songs in the future; I certainly hope “future” means, like, “in the next ten minutes,” because I want to hear them all right now.