Reviews

CASEY CAMPBELL MANDOLIN DUETS, VOL. 1 No Label No Number Mandolin Duets, Vol. 1 is one of the most important bluegrass mandolin recordings since David Grisman’s landmark Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza two-CD set. Conceived by fourth-generation bluegrass musician Casey Campbell, who literally took his first steps in Bill Monroe’s dressing room backstage at the Grand Ole…

MARK OLITSKY & CARY MOSKOVITZ DUETS No Label No Number Two men with two banjos make some fascinating music. Olitsky plays a minstrel banjo, one of those nylon or gut-strung massive wonders that troll an octave below most banjos. Moskovitz plays three different plectrum banjos. Plectrum banjos have a neck as long as a five-string,…

CARSON PETERS AND IRON MOUNTAIN No Label CPM001 Here we go again. Hardly a month or so ago, I reviewed a 15-year-old fiddling phenom. Now comes a 13-year-old fiddling phenom. Carson Peters and Iron Mountain includes the able efforts of Ben Marshall on bass and vocals, Eric Marshall on banjo and vocals, Austin Tate on…

BUNCOMBE TURNPIKE THEY PASSED IT DOWN Buncombe Turnpike BT-06452 Buncombe Turnpike gives us a lot to like in They Passed It Down. Most of all, I appreciate their ambition. They sound like they’re trying on their seventh album to create a distinctive sound while remaining well within the bounds of the bluegrass genre. Taking advantage…

NU-BLU VAGABONDS Voxhall Records VHR17001 In the first six tracks of the new recording from North Carolina-based Nu-Blu, intense is the watchword. Only track five, the somewhat lilting and light “How Many Rivers” by Gerald Ellenburg and Shawn Lane and sung by guitarist Daniel Routh, breaks that mood and gives the listener a little bit…

AARON “FROSTY” FOSTER OPENING DOORS No Label No Number Finishing one of many listenings to a standout track from Opening Doors, the jazzy “Wayfaring Stranger” distinguished by Angel Edgemon’s vocals and Aaron Foster’s supportive guitar playing, I decided to punch the FM button. The WUNC folk show came on, halfway through that very same song….