Reviews

NEWTOWN OLD WORLD Mountain Home MH17202 This is the fourth release for this Lexington, Ky., band which consists of Kati Penn (fiddle), Jr. Williams (banjo), Aaron Ramsey (guitar), Travis Anderson (bass), and Mitchell Cannon (mandolin). The project includes song selections from Tyler Childers, Donna Hughes, and Eric Cummins, among others. Each tune is presented with…

CLAY HESS BAND JUST ANOTHER STORY Pinecastle Records PRC1216 Clay Hess has come a long way since playing guitar with Ricky Skaggs. Here, along with his current band, Hess brings a hard-driving guitar style and earnest singing to a varied set of bluegrass. They don’t break any new ground, but do put their stamp on…

BORROWED TYME BAND Bonfire Records BRC 5003 The Borrowed Tyme Band hails from Central Indiana and consists of Roger Brown (mandolin), Dan Canerday (vocals), Rick Wilson (bass), and Josh Woods (banjo). Joining the band on this project are Tony Wray (guitar), Tim Crouch (fiddle), and Dara Ray (vocals). The selections include a mix of original…

JOHN JORGENSON BLUEGRASS BAND J2B2: FROM THE CROW’S NEST Cleopatra CLO0751 Jorgenson may not be known to you for playing bluegrass, but he does so here with his old bandmate from the Desert Rose Band, Herb Pedersen, along with Jon Randall and Mark Fain. That’s an impressive lineup of pickers, and it yields good results….

WE BANJO 3 HAVEN No Label WB3CD005 This is a really nice project of contemporary acoustic music from this band based in Galway, Ireland. The all-original selections are marked with influences from bluegrass, Jazz, and Celtic styles. The band is two sets of brothers: David Howley (guitar), Martin Howley (mandolin, banjo), Fergal Scahill (fiddle, percussion),…

VICTOR FURTADO DELLORTO ISLAND Patuxent Music CD-319 This young man comes from a musical family and it shows. This is not his first recording, and this one is more fully realized than his earlier effort (Patuxent CD-261), taking his clawhammer banjo to new frontiers. He’s accompanied by three fiddlers—Nate Leath, Aila Wildman, and Andrew Vogts—the…