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MUSIC REVIEW

Welch, Rawlings worth the wait

By James Reed

 |  Globe Staff  

  December 14, 2011

Gillian Welch without singer/guitarist David Rawlings would be like Jagger without Richards, McCartney with no Lennon. At the Wilbur on Monday, their chemistry went well beyond their harmonies, as exquisite and cozy as they were on “Down Along the Dixie Line’’ and “I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll.’’ They held the audience rapt with the way Welch sketched an outline of a song on acoustic guitar or banjo and then relied on Rawlings to color it in with melodies that felt expansive but also carefully considered.

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