Reviews
Appalachian Smoke
The members of Appalachian Smoke all hail from the area of Southern Appalachia and their music invokes both the traditional and contemporary feelings and styles of the region. The band is BJ Taylor (mandolin, octave mandolin, vocals), Mikel Laws (banjo, guitar, vocals), Jamie Mason (guitar, banjo, vocals), Kenneth Rymer (resophonic guitar, vocals), and Tim Williams…
Around The Clock
Daniel Patrick, host of a popular podcast called Mandolins and Beer, traveled far and wide, to five different recording studios in nearly as many states, to put this project together. The outcome is a series of vocal and mandolin duets with 11 of his favorite players on distinctly non-bluegrass songs—“because,” Patrick explains in the media…
Country Girl’s Blue Moon
‘Me’ is Don Depoy and ‘Martha’ is Martha Hills and they are based in the town of Swoope, Virginia. Originally Martha Hills is from the coastal town of Belfast, Maine where she learned to love the area’s music. Around 1990, she heard live bluegrass and was strongly attracted to it. In 2000, Don Depoy met…
Never Gets Old
After moving to Nashville in 1987, Irwin set to developing his songwriting talents. It took a few years while working as a bartender and collaborating with other writers, that he finally landed some songs that were recorded by folks like Randy Travis, Alan Jackson. Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, and Jimmy Buffett. It was Alan Jackson’s…
True Tones
On his new CD, mandolinist Mark Stoffel offers up a stylistically diverse outing on mostly original instrumental tunes. The Austrian expat who tours with Chris Jones and the Night Riders, does a deep dive into his own influences and tastes, creating a CD where styles range from modern bluegrass, to refined instrumentals, to the sort…
Drivin’ The Blue
While the band is based in the Washington, DC area, the members are from Northern Virginia, Rhode Island, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. They include Wally Hughes (guitar, fiddle, resonator guitar, vocals), Lisa Kay Howard Hughes (mandolin, vocals), James Field (guitar, vocals). Joe Hannabach (bass), and Ed Lick (banjo, steel, mandolin). Individually they have performed with…