Reviews

THE BLUE SKY BOYS BY DICK SPOTTSWOOD Univ. of Miss. Press 9781496816412. Paperback, 256 pp., 71 b&w illustrations, $30. (Univ. of Miss. Press, 3825 Ridgewood Rd., Jackson, MS 39211, upress.state.ms.us.) Brother duos were once common in country music. The Monroe Brothers, the Delmore Brothers, and the Blue Sky Boys were all very popular in the…

ROE FAMILY SINGERS SONGS OF THE MOUNTAINS, SONGS OF THE PLAINS Pinecastle Recordings PRC1210 The Roe Family Singers are from Minnesota and feature Kim Roe on vocals, autoharp, and washboard, and Quillan Roe on vocals, banjo, and archtop guitar, plus a large backup band with everything from electric guitar to musical saw. These 15 selections…

LENA ULLMAN AND ANNA FALKENAU I CAN HEAR YOU CALLING No Label No Number This is a CD of fiddle and clawhammer banjo duets and songs, but it goes considerably outside the envelope of old-time music. Anna Falkenau (fiddle) is from Scotland and the Orkney Islands. Lena Ullman (banjo) is from further south in Britain….

KRISTI STANLEY HEART WIDE OPEN Union House Records UHR-0004 This is Kristi Stanley’s debut release on Union House and she is joined on this project by a great collection of talent, including Austin Brown (guitar, bass), Nick Goad (mandolin), Rod Smith (banjo, resonator guitar), and Adam Haynes (fiddle). Guest artists include Travis Houck (resonator guitar),…

HIGH FIDELITY HILLS OF HOME Rebel Records REB-CD-1864    This is bluegrass music like it used to be in years gone by. Fine vocals and strong, time-tested material free of cliche and instantly recognizable as a fine example of what made bluegrass great. Strong duets and trios marked by first-rate picking are encased in exciting and…

FIVE MILE MOUNTAIN ROAD Patuxent Music CD-315 Five Mile Mountain Road is a four-piece old-time band from Franklin County, Virginia.  The core of the band and its old-time sound consists of Billy Hurt on fiddle and Seth Boyd on banjo.  Solid support comes from Steven Dowdy on bass (formerly of the Bluegrass Brothers) and multi-instrumentalist Brennan Ernst…