Reviews

LARRY STEPHENSON BAND WEEP LITTLE WILLOW Whysper Dream Music CD-7427 From the jaunty opening banjo riffs of the up-tempo love lament “Yesterday’s Gone” (penned by C. Stuart and W. Kidd) right on through to the restless refrains of the closing cut—a haunting rendition of Alton Delmore’s “Midnight Train”—the Larry Stephenson Band’s new 12-track collection bristles…

JEREMY GARRETT THE RV SESSIONS 2: INSTRUMENTALS  No Label VSB 110    Many years have passed since an instrumental bluegrass album captivated me as much as The RV Sessions 2: Instrumentals by Infamous Stringdusters fiddler Jeremy Garrett. Maybe Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe or Bela Fleck’s Deviation. Garrett stays within the bluegrass genre while innovating brilliantly…

JENNY WHITELEY THE ORIGINAL JENNY WHITELEY Black Hen Music No Number Jenny Whiteley is an award-winning Canadian singer and songwriter. This collection contains three of her original songs, plus another eight which are a mix of three traditional and five by other writers performed primarily in old-time styles. She opens with Chris Coole’s “100 Dollars”…

VARIOUS ARTISTS MOUNTAINS OF MUSIC HOMECOMING 2015: THE LIVE CONCERT RECORDINGS The Crooked Road TCR002 Perhaps the two hardest recordings to review are live ones (since concerts are about entertaining a live audience rather than making an album) and multiple artist compilations lacking a single artistic vision. Mountains of Music Homecoming 2015: The Live Concert…

CURTIS WRIGHT Voxhall Records VHR-12004 Within the world of bluegrass there are the true believers who only want the true vine and the truth dealt up in the proper way. Sometimes pretenders who are good country singers make an album and try to pawn it off as bluegrass. But any real fan knows the difference….

STUART WYRICK EAST TENNESSEE SUNRISE Rural Rhythm RUR-1134 This first solo release by Wyrick showcases many of his musical friends including but not limited to Alan Bibey, Kenny Smith, Phil Leadbetter, and co-producer Steve Gulley. There are ten vocalists present on seven of the tunes. The balance are instrumentals and cuts that show off Wyrick’s…