Reviews

SHANNON SLAUGHTER NEVER STANDING STILL Elite Circuit Records ECR-0004 If you’re in the market for a bluegrass album that flows with a gentle ease and smooth vocals, look no further than the latest from Shannon Slaughter. While there are a couple tracks that fall outside that “gentle and smooth” description (a fairly torrid cover of…

MOLSKY’S MOUNTAIN DRIFTERS Tree Frog Music, No Number    Bruce Molsky has become known as one of the world’s great traditional fiddlers. He is also proficient on banjo, guitar, and vocals. He’s made his name performing solo and in many bands and configurations. His newest band, which he says he is focusing on now, has Allison…

REMINGTON RYDE A STORYTELLER’S MEMORY Pinecastle Records PRC1211 The storyteller in question in the title of this album is the late James King, a friend of Remington Ryde lead singer and guitarist Ryan Frankhouser. It’s a tribute album in King’s memory and full of the types of story songs that King loved to perform. For…

MIKE BARNETT PORTRAITS IN FIDDLES Compass Records 746952 The tribute album has become a common occurrence, and bluegrass has not been an exception to the trend. Sometimes, it’s to honor tradition, sometimes it’s because it’s hard to get new music heard. At its worst, this can lead to weak imitations and a sense of hiding…

GEORGE P. KNAUFF’S VIRGINIA REELS AND THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN FIDDLING BY CHRIS GOERTZEN Univ. of Miss. Press 9781496814272. Printed case binding, 256 pp., 66 b&w illustrations, $65. (Univ. of Miss. Press, 3825 Ridgewood Rd., Jackson, MS 39211, www.upress.state.ms.us.) This is the second book on American fiddle music from the United States by this author….

MARK KUYKENDALL, BOBBY HICKS & ASHEVILLE BLUEGRASS FOREVER AND A DAY Rebel Records REB-1865    In the liner notes, Mark Kuykendall (guitar) and IBMA Hall Of Famer Bobby Hicks (fiddle) note that combined, they have 110 years of performing and recording bluegrass music under their Blue Grass Boy belt buckles, and it shows. Hicks, the legendary…