Reviews

TIM MAY & ROBERT BOWLIN FLATPICK SWING FGM Records 5887 Swing music in the style of Django Reinhardt has influenced every bluegrass flatpicking guitarist from Doc Watson and Clarence White to Tony Rice, Bryan Sutton, David Grier, and modern wizards Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge. Minor swing and many more Jazz era tunes today can…

TOWN MOUNTAIN SOUTHERN CRESCENT  LoHi Records 001    More than any other form of music, bluegrass is shaped and bred on place. Imagine Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, and Bryan Sutton without North Carolina; Monroe and Bush without Kentucky; the Kentucky Colonels without Southern California; Hot Rize without Colorado. You can’t. Asheville, N.C., has bred its own…

SIERRA HULL WEIGHTED MIND Rounder Records 1661-91662 Sierra Hull enters a brave new world with her first recording project in five years. She was frustrated with the variety of opinions pulling her in different directions, and her inner voice was longing for a different sound. Accepting the advice of her banjo wizard producer Bela Fleck,…

CAROLINA BLUE GOIN’ HOME TODAY No Label No Number Carolina Blue, perhaps the only bluegrass band to share a name with a hip-hop group, offers a very good album, Goin’ Home Today, marking their tenth year together. Falling on the traditional end of the contemporary bluegrass spectrum, the band demonstrates the talent, skills, and commitment…

THE BOXCARS FAMILIAR WITH THE GROUND Mountain Home MH16422 Even with John Bowman’s departure in 2014, The Boxcars keep impressively rolling on. Their latest recording is every bit as rewarding for the listener and as deeply rooted in the band’s signature sound as any of their previous releases. Light when called for, dark when necessary….

JOSH WILLIAMS MODERN DAY MAN Rounder Records 11661-9111-2 At the time of Josh Williams’ last recording, he’d hit bottom in his personal life. His struggles are known and bear no need for cataloging here. Suffice it to say, six years on the road of recovery and six years of hard work have resulted in this,…