Reviews
A Tribute to Flatt and Scruggs
Carnegie Tradition Raincoe Music DSR202002 Bluegrass music is no doubt in an era of stretching forward and sideways with musicians carving out new spaces, just like the founders in the 1940s. However, the new album by Carnegie Tradition reaches backward to revisit those earlier days when the music was making its way with A Tribute…
Bill Monroe: Solo Transcriptions 1936-1996
By Andy Novara With the publication of his new book, Bill Monroe: Solo Transcriptions 1936-1996, Andy Novara has added a wonderful and valuable new reference book for students of Bill Monroe’s mandolin style. The mandolinist in a band called Riverbend, Novara is a skilled Monroe stylist. He clearly adores and has bonded with Monroe’s unique…
Live From The Don Owens Show, Washington, D.C., 1958-1959
Bluegrass Champs Yep Roc Records YEP-2555 I woke up this morning with the chorus of “Rock-a-Bye Boogie” going through my head. Just the words “rock-a-bye boogie” sung over and over, in a syncopated style, to a boogie-woogie beat. I’m obsessed with it. To me, this is the standout number in this collection of live performances…
The Sunny Side Of Life
Carolyn Eyerly Patuxent Music Cd-344 Northern Virginia native Carolyn Eyerly’s dulcet voice has long been familiar to bluegrass fans in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Eyerly co-founded and was lead singer for a D.C.-based folk group called Shenandoah Run. Later, she was a founding member of Sweet Yonder, an all-women bluegrass assembly that enjoyed regional…
Fall Like Rain
Justin Moses Mountain Fever Records MFR-110100 If ever there was a “showcase album,” Justin Moses’ Fall Like Rain fits the bill. Many artists write songs for and sing on their albums, but not that many also play EVERY INSTRUMENT. Add to that an all-star lineup of bluegrass performers and you have a top-shelf CD. Moses…
Fox Hollow Memories: Songs I Wrote With Dixie and Tom T. Hall
Troy Engle Rocky Glen Music RGM-320 Fox Hollow, legendary singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall’s rustically elegant estate near Franklin, Tennessee, was often a gathering place for his extended musical family. ` For quite a long time during his formative years, Troy Engle, a well-credentialed singer, songwriter and picker who now heads his own accomplished bluegrass band,…