Reviews

THE BLUEGRASS UNIT SETLIST VOL.1 No Label TBU-1 This Canadian band has a great vocal trio and lots of hot licks to back it up. Everyone is a fine singer, and they sing their parts with lots of drive in a powerful delivery. Their picking is just as solid, with Justin Nauss on banjo, Kenny…

CAROLINA BLUE SOUNDS OF KENTUCKY GRASS Poor Mountain Records PMR-0004    This album’s attention-grabbing set of hard bluegrass songs presents a genuine breakout for Carolina Blue. That backstory of a western N.C. band named Carolina Blue releasing an album called Sounds Of Kentucky Grass further distinguishes the album in a crowded marketplace. Although noted for their…

JOHN REISCHMAN AND THE JAYBIRDS ON THAT OTHER GREEN SHORE Corvus Records CR024    West Coast bluegrass has always suffered from a lack of respect. From the Kentucky Colonels to Muleskinner to Old & In The Way to Psychograss, somehow the music made by these ultra-talented bands couldn’t be true-blue bluegrass to some fans. It’s as…

FIDDLER’S DREAM: OLD-TIME, SWING, AND BLUEGRASS FIDDLING IN TWENTIETH CENTURY MISSOURI BY HOWARD WIGHT MARSHALL Univ. Of Missouri Press 9780826221216. CD included, 448 pp., 111 photos, $29.95. (Chicago Distribution Ctr., 11030 S. Langley Ave., Chicago, IL 60628, upress.missouri.edu.) This second volume by Marshall on the fiddling in Missouri brings the reader up to the twentieth…

DOUG FLOWERS FAVORITES No Label No Number The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will The Circle Be Unbroken album served as the inspirational concept for Doug Flowers latest CD. Flowers, who has performed with the Little Roy & Lizzy Show and Clinton Gregory, gathered together some of his favorite singers, songwriters, and pickers for a jam…

THE SOWELL FAMILY PICKERS TRUST IN THE LORD No Label No Number As with many family bands, the Sowells are, at their core, a gospel bluegrass band. That does not necessarily mean that all of their material is gospel bluegrass. They follow what seems to be a rising trend in bluegrass, one in which bands…