The Fireball Mail
Delivering Bluegrass News, Reviews,and Tunes
Stop, Look and Listen
Shotgun Holler- Out in the Parking Lot
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The Cleverlys
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Flat Lonesome -The Right Side
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Urban Monroes- William's Still Alive
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Honey Dewdrops-Lowlands
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Trinity River Band How Blue
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Mountain Faith-City Lights
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With enduring arrangements and some clever musical horse sense, the Urban Monroes nimbly negotiate a path to discover the unexplored in the midst of some familiar and some not-so-familiar terrain. The CD lays out that fresh panorama in eloquent testimony of the band’s talent.
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Bluegrass legend Peter Rowan has a new album titled The Old School “The Old School is a big school. It is where the tributaries of the river came from,” says bluegrass musician and GRAMMY-winner Peter Rowan of his new album.
Influenced by his experience with the dynamic and enigmatic father of bluegrass Bill Monroe and written with the “bluegrass code” in mind, the now 70-year-old Rowan recorded the album with an intergenerational cast of skilled players. Old masters such as Bobby Osborne and Del McCoury sat shoulder to shoulder with younger players including The Traveling McCourys, Michael Cleveland, Bryan Sutton and more, everyone playing and singing in a circle and recording old school style. It was an appropriate way to capture the raw spirit of bluegrass music and, for Rowan, the album became the perfect vehicle through which to explore the complex musical strands of the bluegrass tapestry.
Rowan’s ambition going into the project was to assemble an elite cast of players and singers to represent the music’s core as well as its broader range of influences. The all-star lineup that came together included musicians who were members of the Bluegrass Boys, some of whom were Bill Monroe’s contemporaries, as well as subsequent generations of groundbreakers whose talents continue to shape and define bluegrass music.
The complete Old School cast includes Del McCoury, Bobby Osborne, Jesse McReynolds, JD Crowe, Buddy Spicher, Jason Carter, Bryan Sutton, Michael Cleveland, the Traveling McCourys, Stuart Duncan, Dennis Crouch, Jeremy Garrett, Don Rigsby, Chris Henry and the members of the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band.
AR-WorldMusic.
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Everything evolves, including music. Even genres like bluegrass, whose very foundation is tradition itself, can’t escape the effect of time and change. On their most recent release, Silver Sky, The Infamous Stringdusters are embracing that idea and allowing their gradual evolution toward newgrass to fully take hold. The Nashville, Tenn.-based troupe’s first effort since the departure of founding mandolin player, Jesse Cobb, proves to be a collection of fresh sounding and colorful tracks replete with accessible songwriting and inspired hook lines. Outside producer Billy Hume, renowned for his hip-hop work (Nas, Ludacris), helps to give a novel edge to timeless tales of regret (“Don’t Mean Nothin’”) and wandering hearts (“The Hitchhiker”). Laid back vibes (“Night on the River”), psychedelic wanderings (“Heady Festy”) and even a Police cover (“Walking on the Moon”) further confirm that this is not the bluegrass of yesteryear, but rather one which honors the past, while boldly looking toward the future.
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Old South is a veteran bluegrass quintet hailing from Adelaide in southern Australia. They have experience, enthusiasm, a nice repertoire of original songs written in the traditional style, and a resonator guitarist named Leonard Cohen (who really should look into teaming up with the Seldom Scene’s Lou Reid and mandolinist Joe Walsh to put together a band that will confuse the heck out of everyone.)
They also have two qualities that might make it harder for them to make as big a splash in the worldwide bluegrass scene as so many others have. First of all, their harmonies are a bit bottom-heavy, with occasional four-parts with bass on non-gospel numbers and a generally glaring absence of that high-lonesome sound that a good tenor and a tight harmonic blend can give a band, although bassist Dave Taylor does his best to supply that tenor part when he can. Secondly, while Old South is a generally solid group of instrumentalists, some of the recorded breaks are sometimes just a bit sloppy, at least enough to be noticed. So although most of the breaks from mandolinist Andrew Hook, banjoist Geoff Bridgland, and Cohen are solid and interesting, the
overall effect is that of a band project that could have used just a few more takes and a bit more stringent production.
Which is unfortunate, because there are a lot of appealing elements to this band. Rhythm guitarist Phill Parker has contributed eight of his original songs, including “Have I Done Enough For You,” a very nice piece that evokes the Carter Family’s simplicity and earnestness. They also perform a very admirable harmonized rendition of Dirk Powell’s wonderful rewrite of the ballad “Waterbound.” Bridgland’s banjo introduction and the chorus harmonies on “Long Hard Time” show how solid and driving Old South can be when captured at their very best. And how can you not like a band whose banjoist’s resumé includes playing with the Wombat Holler String Band.
The Hanging Tree is a CD that teases the listener with a taste of what is probably a fun live band with a largely distinctive repertoire. I hope—failing an unexpected but welcome opportunity to journey Down Under to see them in person—that their next recording has just enough extra polish to show them at their best.
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The latest entry from The SteelDrivers is long overdue. “Hammer Down” (Rounder Records) the band’s third CD and first since 2010, will bring fans of this whiskey-hewn band to its feet, and new fans will be born, probably when the group debuts the CD at this weekend’s Joe Val Bluegrass Festival
Songs of heartache and defiance, love and cheating are performed in charismatic SteelDrivers dark and driving fashion, led by the powerful, gravelly voice of guitarist Gary Nichols, who came in a few years ago when Chris Stapleton left the band.
This is Nichols’ first CD with the band, and his presence has assured that the band’s overall sound will endure. Coupled with the fine harmony singing and fiddling from Tammy Rogers and bassist Mike Fleming, along with solid banjo from Richard Bailey and mandolin from newest member Brent Truitt, the SteelDrivers’ latest mix of string band music and bluegrass is likely to emerge as a favorite this year.
The uninitiated may know The SteelDrivers by “If It Hadn’t Been for Love,” popularized by English pop star Adele, though bluegrass fans have enjoyed it for much longer. Their music has a mournful passion, from Nichols’ random cries in the heartbreaking opener “Shallow Grave,” the countrified broken-hearted barroom dance mantra “Wearin’ A Hole” to the musical hooks in “How Long Have I Been Your Fool” and the defiant reaction to abuse in “Burnin’ the Woodshed Down.”
The CD includes 10 new songs, some by founders Stapleton and Mike Henderson and some by Nichols & Rogers. They perform the cheating song “When You Don’t Come Home” contrasted by the song of devotion “I’ll Be There,” one of two songs written by Nichols and Paul White (The Civil Wars).
If this is your first foray into SteelDrivers’ music, this new release will no doubt cause you to pick up their first CDs as well.