Reviews

THE CHUCK WAGON GANG AMERICA’S GOSPEL SINGERS: THE LEGACY LIVES ON New Haven Records 0270722811099DVD    Since the debut of the Chuck Wagon Gang’s Bear Family box set, along with the CD by the current group (see “Highlight Reviews” of both in the June 2015 issue of BU), I’ve been trying to recall when I first became…

THE STEEP CANYON RANGERS RADIO Rounder Records 11661-36733-82 The Grammy Award-winning Steep Canyon Rangers can best be described as musical mavericks. Unbound by convention, they are inventive musicians. That they have teamed with comedian and banjo player Steve Martin live and in previous recorded efforts simply adds to their intrigue. Their ninth CD (sans Martin)…

KENNY JACKSON THE SHORTEST DAY Crow Hill Music CHM-CD-004 Jackson has been a longtime member of the old-time music scene. Starting out playing guitar with Brad Leftwich and Linda Higginbotham, he was a member of Big Medicine. On this, his second solo effort, he’s joined from time to time by his current bandmates from the…

MARK KUYKENDALL, BOBBY HICKS AND ASHEVILLE GRASS DOWN MEMORY LANE Rebel Records REB-CD-1855 Guitarist and lead vocalist Mark Kuykendall (sideman for Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, and others) debuts in partnership with fiddle legend Bobby Hicks and also with the fine assistance of bassist/vocalist Nick Dauphinais, mandolinist/vocalist Nick Chandler, and banjoist/vocalist Seth Rhinehart (collectively Asheville Bluegrass)….

DANIEL KOULACK & KARRNNEL SAWITSKY FIDDLE AND BANJO: TUNES FROM THE NORTH, SONGS FROM THE SOUTH No Label No Number Daniel Koulack is a clawhammer banjo player from Winnipeg, and Karrnnel Sawitsky is a fiddler from Saskatoon. Although they open with Pete Seeger’s “Goofing Off Theme,” they play mostly traditional tunes, but in very modern…

OLA BELLE REED AND THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAIN MUSIC ON THE MASON-DIXON LINE—BY HENRY GLASSIE, CLIFFORD R. MURPHY, AND DOUGLAS DOWLING PEACH—Dust-to-Digital DTS-40. Hardcover, 256 pp., two CDs included, $31.50. (Dust-To-Digital, PO Box 54743, Atlanta, GA 30308, www.dust-digital.com.) Ola Belle Reed was a presence to be reckoned with. Her voice was commanding, her playing sufficient and…