Jerry Douglas Band lives up to their name

Douglas, who is said to have played on a few thousand albums as a session player and is also a member of Allison Krauss' Union Station band, certainly was the focal point of the band live. They are touring shortly before the release of Douglas' (it's billed as being by "Jerry Douglas," not the "Jerry Douglas Band") upcoming CD, "Set."

And they certainly leaned into "Set," playing all but one of the 11 songs on the release (well five of the songs were reimagined by Douglas and previously released).

While steeped in bluegrass, Douglas could not be accused of only playing that genre. The band got swampy at one point, jazzy, more country at others and even rocked a bit. The playing also leaned heavily into jam band territory with many songs going on, stretching out more.

Douglas is one of the best Dobro players in the world. His playing was clean, succinct and often lyrical, something that could be said about how the band played throughout the show. He also contributed vocals to a few songs. He's certainly no Krauss, but he was able to hold his own.

However, Douglas made it clear he has little ego when it came to spreading the musical love to the other three members of the band. As is typical, on the opening song, "King Silkie," Douglas led it off slowly before galloping along and quickly ceding the spotlight to fiddle player Christian Sedelmyer, electric guitarist Mike Seal and upright bassist Daniel Kimbro.

That was far from the only time that Douglas would let the band play during the 85-minute show. It's just part of his musical DNA. Each had a chance to show off their ample musical skills. Kimbro capably took on lead vocals on his song, "Loyston." Seal and Sedelmyer also led songs they penned for the album. Seal offered versatility on his guitar, including rock.

Among the highlights was an excellent rendition of The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Douglas' Dobro playing stood up against Eric Clapton and George Harrison's playing on the original chestnut.

Douglas also has a keen sense of humor with a lot of funny comments and a bit of a self-deprecating style. Before playing the jazzy "Pushed Too Far" from "Set," Douglas commented, "It's making me nervous....it's got a lot of notes in it. We'll see how it goes." As if he had any doubts.

Or following that with Tom Waits' "2:19," Douglas said he learned the song "in a parking in the back of the Idaho State Penitentiary. That's all you need to know about that."

About the only negative was that Douglas didn't draw much of a crowd for reasons unknown, at most 100 people. The lack of a crowd certainly had zero to do with the quality of the band.

Jerry Douglas kept it to the point when it came to naming the group, and with nights like this, truth in advertising lives on.