Reviews
Critterland
Willie Carlisle is a troubadour following in the footsteps of folks like Woody Gutherie, John Prine, Rambling Jack Elliot and Utah Phillips. On his latest release he teams up Grammy-nominated musician and producer Darrell Scott for a well-crafted album full of songs about love and redemption. Carlisle explores what it means to be human as…
Earl Jam
The story of Tony Trischka’s Earl Scruggs tribute album sounds like the makings of a song itself. During the pandemic, the banjo virtuoso received a package in the mail that contained a thumb drive. This wasn’t one with old photos or spreadsheets — it was recordings of Scruggs and John Hartford jamming, mostly made at…
Dan Levenson’s Master Collection of Old-Time Tunes
Dan Levenson’s name will be well known to anyone who is familiar with old-time music, especially banjo and fiddle players. He is a performer, recording artist and educator. He has published instructional books, produced videos, written magazine articles and taught many workshops. If you are familiar with any of this previous work, you will know…
Waiting Days
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the band members of Pert Near Sandstone are Justin Bruhn (bass), Kevin Kniebel (banjo), J Lenz (guitar) and Nate Sipe (mandolin, steel guitar, fiddle). They are all known as good songwriters and instrumentalists and they support the traditions of American folk and string band music but with a desire for more…
Why Live Without
This four-piece group from Northern Ireland consists of three siblings and a husband. The siblings are Tabitha Benedict (née Agnew) who plays banjo, Benjamin Agnew on bass and Reuben Agnew on guitar. They are joined by Tabitha’s husband David Benedict who plays mandolin. The group has traveled throughout their native Ireland, the UK and mainland…
No Fear
In the five years since this multi-IBMA Award-winning band’s last album, three new members have come on board. Founders Deanie Richardson (fiddle) and vocalist-banjo player Gena Britt remain. Jaelee Roberts (guitar), Dani Flowers (guitar) and Maddie Dalton (bass) now round out the group. This lineup delivers something that’s close to magic on No Fear. For…