Reviews

CHRIS JONES AND THE NIGHT DRIVERS LIVE AT THE OLD FEED STORE GSM Records 103 Here’s a live album that gets it right. Just enough ambiance and crowd involvement so you get the experience. Instruments and voices are in balance so you hear everyone clearly. Introductions are kept to a minimum or on separate tracks…

LARRY STEPHENSON BAND PULL YOUR SAVIOR IN Whysper Dream Music 7 4262 9 How appropriate that Larry Stephenson celebrates his 25th year as a bandleader by releasing his fifth all-gospel album. Stephenson always seems to put an extra something into such releases, and this one is no different in that regard. The man definitely has…

SONGWRITING STRATEGIES: A 360° APPROACH—BY MARK SIMOS Berklee Press 978-0-87639-151-8. 210 pp. $22.99. (Berklee Online, 1140 Boylston St., MS-855 BM, Boston, MA 02215, www.berkleepress.com.) Now, when someone asks, “Which comes first—the melody or the words?” I can reply: Songwriting Strategies by Mark Simos comes first. That is, if what the question is really asking is, “How…

BECKY BULLER ’TWEEN EARTH AND SKY Dark Shadow Recordings 114681    Becky Buller has been a regular on the bluegrass scene for over a decade now, although at times she has flown under the radar. The fact is, however, she’s a triple threat who is finally getting some much-deserved recognition with her new album ’Tween…

THE KEVIN PRATER BAND WERE YOU THERE No Label No Number This is Prater’s full gospel release with a new band that includes Prater (mandolin, guitar), Tom Timberlake (banjo), Albon Clevenger (fiddle), Cole Spears (guitar), and Danny Stiltner (bass). Prater’s career with such bands as James King and Melvin Goins, as well as influential mentoring…

THE CLAIRE LYNCH BAND HOLIDAY Compass Records THR4121 The test of a good Christmas recording is to find yourself able to listen to it when it arrives within a few days of Old Christmas (January 6). Just about any of them will sound good in early December. One that sounds good when your ear has…