Reviews

THE ROLAND WHITE BAND STRAIGHT AHEAD BLUEGRASS No Label No Number    It’s impossible to accurately tell the history of bluegrass music without including the contributions of Roland and Clarence White, their band the Kentucky Colonels, and the lasting impact made by Roland through his soft-spoken yet brilliant contributions to bands such as Country Gazette and…

STUART MASON TRADITION Native Home Music No Number Stuart Mason is a West Virginia native who now lives on the central coast of California. He has won awards for singing, songwriting, and mandola. He has played with bands such as Molly’s Revenge, Story Road, and Little Black Train, and this is his second solo release….

SUSIE GLAZE & THE HILONESOME BAND NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL No Label No Number  The Hilonesome Band is based around the vocals of Susie Glaze. The music here is not bluegrass, but it’s first-rate. There is humor and more than a touch of class to the project. There are some strong original numbers augmented…

BIG COUNTRY BLUEGRASS COUNTRY LIVIN’ Rebel Records REB-CD-1858 Big Country Bluegrass’s sheer longevity (two decades, 18 albums and counting) comes as no surprise to anybody. This southern Virginia-based band, fronted by mandolin master Tommy Sells and his wife Teresa (guitar and lead and tenor vocals), is steeped in what the press release accompanying their new…

THE ORIGINAL FIVE ACROSS THE DEEP BLUE SEA Rootsy 118    Sweden’s The Original Five returns with an energetic, melodic, and enjoyable follow-up to last year’s debut. Bubbling up through the 14 song cauldron of styles, one hears traditional and contemporary bluegrass, of course, but also ’60s and ’70s folk, Beatles-era pop, West Coast bluegrass,…

STEVE HARRIS SUNDOWN Orange Blossom Records No Number Steve Harris is the founding member of Circa Blue, and this is his first solo outing. This is an all-gospel project where Steve (a preacher’s son) has produced a selection of his favorites which were chosen for “the personal sentiment they hold for me,” Steve handles the…