Reviews

OVERTONES: 12 SONGS, 12 VINTAGE GUITARS No Label No Number    If you’re a guitar player with a love of vintage instruments, this album is for you. If you’re an acoustic music fan with a love of gorgeously played tunes, this album is for you. And if you’re a jaded listener with a need for…

STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN DEEPER ROOTS: WHERE THE BLUEGRASS GROWS SCSEE Music No Number Multiple Grammy award-winning Contemporary Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman digs into his bluegrass roots for a second time. This CD is a follow-up to Deep Roots, his first venture into re-exploring his Kentucky roots when his dad and his buddies played guitar,…

SONS OF THE SOUTH STORIES & TRADITIONS: OUR SONGS OUR WAY No Label No Number It has been over 50 years since Sons Of The South was formed in Piedmont Western North Carolina, and founder and banjo player Michael Souther has been there since the beginning, having inherited the band from his father. He’s kept…

GENA BRITT CHRONICLE: FRIENDS AND MUSIC Pinecastle Records PRC1230 Thirty years ago, the center for bluegrass moved to Nashville. It had been more egalitarian before then. Since then, an industry has been constructed, and here we have ordained Nashville bluegrass. This is a fine tribute to Gena Britt’s talents, as more than twenty friends gather…

LOUISA BRANSCOMB GONNA LOVE ANYWAY Compass Records 747382    Louisa Branscomb’s life has always been influenced by trains. While growing up, and still today, she hears the whistles, the click-clack on the rails, and the screech of the brakes as the trains roll on by. Those sounds have become the basis for many of her songs,…

HARD DRIVE No Label No Number Millennial bluegrass is not for the old and stodgy unless you are open to reinventing the norms. The opening track, “Intuitions,” is reminiscent of The Twilight Zone, smooth voice over and all. This segues into the women’s voices on the introduction to a very fine “Goin’ Up Caney.” The music…