Reviews

JOHN BOWMAN WORSHIP HIM Pisgah Ridge PR 15462    John Bowman’s last solo gospel recording was one given entirely to the songs of Joe Isaacs. This time, Bowman casts his song net a bit wider, mixing together a couple of traditional tunes—“God’s Not Dead” and “Summer’s Gone (My God Made It All)”—with songs both old…

AFTER JACK ECHO Travianna Records TR140422    After Jack is a trio of young ladies from the Virginia/North Carolina/Tennessee area and this is a mostly original project showing their strong influences of old-time, bluegrass, and Americana music. The trio is Mary Allison (guitar and percussion), Emily Blankenship (bass), and Rachel Blankenship (banjo, mandolin, and percussion)….

RACHEL BURGE AND BLUE DAWNING Mountain Fever Records MFR 140624    New to Mountain Fever Records and making their recording debut as a well is Rachel Burge and Blue Dawning. Burge is on mandolin. Lance Gainer plays guitar, Michele Birkby-Vance the fiddle, Radford Vance the banjo, and Rick Westerman the bass. Everyone shares in the…

THE HIGH 48s BLUEGRASS BAND GREAT NORTHERN RAILROAD No Label No Number    Trains, trains, and more trains dominate the entire sixth recording from the High 48s, and why not? Trains have a strong hold on our music and our collective memory, even as they have less physical presence for us today. Interestingly, of the…

LARRY SPARKS LONESOME AND THEN SOME… A CLASSIC 50TH CELEBRATION Rebel Records REB-CD-1846 It doesn’t seem all that long ago when Larry Sparks’ fortieth anniversary album was released, which finally garnered the lonesome legend the IBMA Album Of The Year, Recorded Event Of The Year, and Male Vocalist Of The Year awards. Since then, impressively,…

VARIOUS ARTISTS CLOSE KIN: OUR ROOTS RUN DEEP Mountain Roads Recordings MMR-1020    This recording is a follow-up to the first Close Kin CD that featured bluegrass and old-time musicians playing together. This project, also produced by Johnny Williams, does that. However, the 11 musicians who play and sing on these dozen songs and tunes…