Reviews

JEANETTE WILLIAMS IF I COULD STOP THE WORLD Off Row Records No Number Three-time SPBGMA Female Vocalist of the Year Jeanette Williams may not stop the world with her new CD, but she’ll have fans stopping in their tracks with each of the ten tunes on her latest project. Adding to her repertoire of bluegrass…

WILLIAMSON BRANCH BRANCHIN’ OUT Enrichertainment Prod. EP-1501 Kevin Williamson has been in the bluegrass music business for over three decades, playing with groups such as the Farm Hands Quartet, Glen Duncan and Phoenix, Dave Evans, the Country Gentlemen, and Bill Monroe. Now, from his homebase in Nashville, Williamson tours the country with his family band…

FERGUSON & FERGUSON SOME BRIDGES No Label No Number It was kind of destined that these two Garys would end up playing together, as both are from the Eastern U.S. Gary Gene Ferguson is from southern Pennsylvania and Gary Alan Ferguson is from the Fredericksburg, Va., area. Both have been involved in bluegrass music for…

RED SQUIRREL CHASERS SHAKIN’ DOWN THE ACORNS Vigortone VT-2006 The Red Squirrel Chasers are composed of Stephanie Coleman, fiddle; Jim Collier, mandolin; Jim Nelson, guitar; and Dedo Norris, bass. They all sing, with the two Jims dividing the lead vocals. They played dances together for about ten years before deciding to combine their interests in…

LAURIE LEWIS & THE RIGHT HANDS THE HAZEL AND ALICE SESSIONS Spruce & Maple Music SMM 1013 One of the go-to sources for bluegrass songs in recent decades has been Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard. If you want great, heartfelt songs of determination, of earthy realism, of a quality that are solidly traditional but often…

CHARM CITY JUNCTION Patuxent Music CD-276 You’ve probably heard the old joke about how the world is divided into two types of people: those who divide the world into two types of people and those who don’t. The application here is to the realm of fiddle tunes. There are musicians deeply immersed in bluegrass or…