Reviews

BYRON BERLINE FLYIN’ FINGERS Double Stop Music DSMCD-05 Flyin’ Fingers, the latest release from Byron Berline, is undoubtedly a fiddle album. However, to stop there would be sort of like saying the 1946 Red Sox had Ted Williams, without mentioning Johnny Pesky, Dom DiMaggio, and Bobby Doerr, as well as two 20-game winning pitchers. Berline,…

TRAVERS CHANDLER ARCHAIC Patuxent Music CD-262 Travers Chandler’s 2010 Patuxent Music debut roared out of the gate, filling the air with a hard-edged sound, some very-fine old style mandolin work and intense, emotional singing to match the intense, emotional stories his song selection told. It was instantly engrossing and instantly likeable for anyone with a…

CLAIRE LYNCH NORTH BY SOUTH Compass Records 7-4671-2 Veteran Claire Lynch, her producer Alison Brown, and the illustrious team of collaborators they’ve gathered here have really hit the high watermark on this fantastic ten-song collection. As a singer, Lynch, a three-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year, has never sounded so compelling, so dazzling, and…

IVAN ROSENBERG THE LITTLEST DOBRO Slosh-Tone 8807 If IBMA had an award for cutest and most original cover design, Ivan Rosenberg should start preparing his acceptance speech now. The clay model figurines of the musicians (and Rosenberg’s instrument of choice, the resonator guitar) are brilliant, and even more impressive upon finding they were the creations…

JEFF SCROGGINS AND COLORADO RAMBLIN FEELS GOOD No Label No Number Ramblin Feels Good is the third release from Jeff Scroggins and Colorado, a high-energy band that hails from, well, you know. The band’s recorded sound is built around the triumvirate of its namesake’s fiery and flashy banjo picking, as well as the equally hot…

ADAM STEFFEY HERE TO STAY Mountain Home MH16622 Adam Steffey’s latest is more Boxcars than his last recording. That recording, Future Primitive, explored the boundaries of old-time and bluegrass, using predominantly traditional fiddle tunes. This recording returns him to a more conventional release. It needs to be said, however, so as not to mislead, that…