These days you’ll find Gregory Good chunkin’ chords with Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue but this solo project came about after the demise of his previous aggregation By and By String Band as an outlet for personal expression.

Like the wide, open Dakota prairies he hails from, this CD has a similar, starker feel and showcases Good’s rolling finger-picking on one of two vintage acoustic guitars.

Some tracks feature other musician like Gal Holiday’s Dave Brouillette (upright bass) or the Deslondes’ John James (steel, fiddle, dobro); two tracks feature all three. Call it gothic old-time Appalachian with three traditional songs mixed with six originals that could also mask as traditionals.

There’s a foreboding, ominous feeling about the proceedings that’s occasionally cathartic, such as the title track that was inspired by a post-Katrina restoration project of Bayou Sauvage.

The contra-danceable “Lowground” is another way of saying you make me blue; “Let It Be” offers insight with its pivotal thought: “Let it be and your heart will set you free.” “High Lonesome Plain” has elements of another high lonesome performer, Hank Williams, even though there’s nothing stylistically comparable about the vocalists.

Yet, the album’s blockbuster surprise comes with “Mack the Knife.”

It’s slowed down to a crawl, stretching past six-and-a-half minutes to emphasize its darker, gorier side that’s usually overlooked with Bobby Darin’s peppier classic.