Reviews

ANTIQUE PERSUASION DON’T FORGET ME LITTLE DARLING: REMEMBERING THE CARTER FAMILY Voxhall Records VHR 12003 This is a tale of two concepts; as in one of the best albums of the year released in 2015 that unfortunately bears one of the worst band names in recent memory. Rest assured, I love this recording. But, whoever…

BAND OF RUHKS 101 Ranch Recordings RRBR22    This is an important and powerful release from three of today’s strongest personalities in bluegrass music. A local bluegrass DJ refused to play this CD because, in his opinion, it was country and not bluegrass. That line has been blurred for at least fifty years by well-established bands…

DAILEY & VINCENT ALIVE! IN CONCERT Pillar Stone Records No Number With a number of IBMA awards to their credit since 2008, Dailey & Vincent must be regarded as one of the premiere bluegrass bands to emerge in the last decade. Alive! In Concert is their first live recording, and their third release through the…

GIBSON BROTHERS BROTHERHOOD Rounder Records 35986 This was an album the Gibson Brothers had to make, being a part of the long line of brother acts whose harmony singing blends so naturally. But, what’s cool about this project is that they waited to record it. They didn’t use the “brother-act sings the songs of other…

JIM HURST & ROBERTO DALLA VECCHIA ATLANTIC CROSSING No Label No Number Ever since Beppe Gambetta arrived on American shores from Europe decades ago with little more than his guitar, a digital two-track recorder and a few words of English to track down and record a CD with his flatpicking guitar heroes, there’s been an…

HAMMERTOWNE HIGHWAYS & HEARTACHES Mountain Fever Records MFR150414 Impressive in many ways is the mostly band-written second recording from eastern Kentucky’s Hammertowne. You can start with their overall sound, one that is highly ordered, very clean. Banjoist Brent Pack, mandolinist Chaston Carroll, guitarists Scott Tackett and Dave Carroll, and bassist Bryan Russell together forge a…