Reviews

WOOD BELLY SOLID GROUND No Label No Number This is Wood Belly’s debut project of original material from Aaron McCloskey (banjo), Chris Weist (mandolin), Craig Patterson (guitar), Taylor Shuck (bass), and Chris Zink (resonator guitar). The band was recognized in June 2018 at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival band contest with an award shortly after this…

WOOD & WIRE NORTH OF DESPAIR Blue Corn Music BCM 1801 Wood & Wire is based in Austin, Texas and this is their fourth project since forming in 2013. The band is Tony Kamel (guitar), Dom Fisher (bass, guitar), Trevor Smith (banjo, mandolin, organ), and Billy Bright (mandolin, mandola, guitar). They offer a blend of…

LOVE CANON COVER STORY Organic Records OR171322 Love Canon travels back in time to bring a fresh acoustic musical perspective to the pop hits of the ’80s and ’90s. Besides bandmembers Jesse Harper (lead singer/guitarist), Adam Larrabee (banjo), Andy Thacker (mandolin), Darrell Muller (bass), and Jay Starling (resonator guitar), the group is joined by Alex…

HOT BUTTERED RUM LONESOME PANORAMIC No Label No Number Hot Buttered Rum brought their high energy into the studio for the band’s sixth studio release, Lonesome Panoramic. As tasty as the band’s name implies, the self-produced disc was recorded at Panoramic House Studio in Stinson Beach, Cal., with a beautiful view of the western Marin County…

COUNTRY MUSIC USA: 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION By BILL C. MALONE AND TRACEY E.W. LAIRD Univ. Of Texas Press 9781477315347. Hardcover, 768 pp., 63 b&w photos, $45. (Univ. of Texas Press, 3001 Lake Austin Blvd., 2.200, Stop E4800, Austin, TX 78703, www.utexaspress.com.) This tome has long been held as thereference on country music. It has been used…

THE EARLS OF LEICESTER LIVE AT THE CMA THEATER IN THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME Rounder Records 1166100425 With the bluegrass genre being the way it is at times, the battle over the heart of the original bluegrass sound never ends. Roots and branches of the genre keep the music alive and interesting, yet…