Reviews

THE ORIGINAL FIVE HAPPY LANDING Rootsy Music ROOTSY140 Part of the truth in the notion that bluegrass travels well is evidenced by the release of Happy Landing by The Original Five, a group of musicians from Sweden. This is the follow up to the band’s 2015 release Across the Deep Blue Sea. Formed in 2010,…

VARIOUS ARTISTS THE KNOXVILLE SESSIONS, 1929-1930 Bear Family BCD 16097     ROY ACUFF & THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN BOYS THE KING OF COUNTRY MUSIC: THE COMPLETE FOUNDATIONAL RECORDINGS, 1936-1951 Bear Family BCD 17300 As the CD format sinks slowly into the west, Bear Family still maintains a high standard for comprehensive and well-documented country and…

TIM CONNELL & ERIC SKYE JUNE APPLE Half-Diminished Records No Number It’s hard to get a handle on exactly what’s at hand upon popping June Apple from Tim Connell and Eric Skye into the CD player. The first thing you notice is an extremely high-quality production that showcases some of the cleanest and richest guitar…

DANNY BARNES STOVE UP Wendell Records WR003 According to the notes in the accompanying booklet, this latest project from Danny Barnes is a tribute to the late Don Stover, a banjo player who was a heavy influence on Barnes. While having never met Stover, Barnes attributes Stover’s 1972 Rounder LP Things In Life as the…

GRANT GORDY AND ROSS MARTIN YEAR OF THE DOG No Label No Number    In the list of flatpicking guitarists who came of age in the post-Tony Rice/Russ Barenberg/David Grier era, Grant Gordy and Ross Martin emerge as two standout musicians. They’ve absorbed bluegrass playing at its deepest roots while also being open to expanding their…

HIGH FIDELITY HI-FI BLUEGRASS No Label No Number    Once in a great while a new band and new recording comes along that captures my attention. This CD instantly propelled me to the 1950s and the music of my idols. It caught me by surprise, but shouldn’t have. I already knew Jeremy Stephens to be a…