Reviews

DAVID BRAGGER BIG FANCY Tiki Parlour Recordings No Number    David Bragger, his band Sausage Grinder, and the online Old-Time Tiki Parlour have become fixtures in the old-time and traditional music scene in Southern California. Now, David has released a solo project of his own, a CD with 21 diverse and excellent selections played on fiddle,…

BUDDY MELTON & MILAN MILLER SECRETS, DREAMS & PRETTY THINGS Melton & Miller Music MM2016001 When an 11-year-old who has made no secret of the fact that bluegrass music is his thing says, “That ‘Adeline’ song is awesome, maybe the best bluegrass song I’ve heard,” that’s a pretty strong endorsement. “Adeline” is the first cut…

THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS LADIES & GENTLEMEN Compass Records 746652 Like the acrobatic artwork of the band’s CD cover, the Infamous Stringdusters continue to teeter on the highwire between various genres with grace and smoothness. On this sixth studio project, the innovative musicians took a different direction. Instead of the familiar sound of Travis Book, Jeremy…

MOUNTAIN FAITH THAT WHICH MATTERS Mountain Fever Record MFR151016 Instrumental tunes don’t often appear on bluegrass gospel recordings. When they do, it’s generally an instrumental version of a known gospel standard. “How Great Thou Art” comes to mind. Here, however, the instrumental title tune is a composition from Mountain Faith’s mandolinist Corey Piatt. And it…

LARRY KEEL EXPERIENCED Keel Fish Music No Number Experienced is one of Larry Keel’s best albums in a while. Not that the previous efforts weren’t good, it’s just this recording finds Keel back to his scruffy and experimental best. At the heart of Experienced are seven new original songs written by Keel and bandmate Will…

JACOB UNDERWOOD THE BANJO FILES Plum River PRP1115 Underwood is a 19-year-old banjo picker who plays with the band Bluegrass Express. He’s helped here by some big name friends on this ten-track effort. He wrote four of the cuts, and they show his approach to bluegrass banjo. He’s about the melody and drive, but does…