Reviews

SIDELINE BREAKS TO THE EDGE Mountain Home 18262 Not long ago, I was having a conversation with IBMA Hall of Famer Del McCoury, and his lament about modern bluegrass bands was simple. “The knack for entertaining people is lacking in a lot of bands and musicians now,” he said. And, he’s right. There’s clamor in…

BILLY DROZE RENAISSANCE Red Bird Records No number Louisiana born Billy Droze comes to bluegrass from several tours with the country band Shendandoah with whom he toured under the name Billy Ryan. As a songwriter, Droze has crafted songs for numerous country and bluegrass acts including Shenandoah, Marty Raybon, Randy Kohrs, Junior Sisk, The Grascals,…

JOE MULLINS & THE RADIO RAMBLERS FOR THE RECORD Billy Blue Records 0908 The CD jacket indicates that after 13 years, Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers have released their eighth album. This is their first on Billy Blue Records and it’s a dandy, offering a variety of material from gospel to sincere songs that…

NO TIME FLATT CALLING AFTER ME No Label NTF-08-2019 This is a fun band that sets out to entertain. They draw music from pop sources, classic country, and also produce originals. Patrick Cupples wrote five of the numbers here and plays bass and drums. Kevin Wright wrote one song and plays guitar. Steve Moore plays…

WOOD BELLY MAN ON THE RADIO Belly Up Records No Number It is always good to pay attention to the Telluride Band Contest winners every year, as it can give you a peak into the up-and-coming bands out West that may be new to the East Coast radar. Wood Belly is a Colorado-based band that…

THE PO’ RAMBLIN’ BOYS TOIL, TEARS, AND TROUBLE Rounder Records 1166100656 The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys broke onto the bluegrass scene with their first album in 2017, made a tremendous impact at IBMA’s World Of Bluegrass as a showcase band the same year, and won IBMA’s 2018 Emerging Artist Of The Year. Toil, Tears, and Trouble represents the…