Reviews

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…

JIM AND LYNNA WOOLSEY THE ROAD THAT BRINGS YOU HOME Broken Record Records BRR1001    This is a wonderful project of original material from Jim and Lynna Woolsey. Written in a modern bluegrass style with a traditional edge, these songs could be welcome additions to anyone’s repertoire. With Jim on guitar and Lynna sharing the…

BOURBON BARREL CONGRESS No Label No Number    There’s always been a general consensus that an album, especially a debut album, should give a balanced representation of what kind of music a band plays. On this self-titled CD, Bourbon Barrel Congress, a quintet from central Virginia, is either remarkably diverse or else hasn’t quite made…

RICHARD BENNETT IN THE WIND SOMEWHERE Lonesome Day Records LDR 041    Scanning down the list of ten songs on Richard Bennett’s new CD, the temptation is to jump ahead to the six (of seven total) covers that close the recording to see how Bennett and guests Steffey, Stewart, Schatz, Rice, and Lane interpret them….