Reviews

THE DOWNTOWN MOUNTAIN BOYS HEARTLAND No label No number Let’s see…plenty of superlatives? Check. Showers of accolades? Check. Glowing tributes? Check. Then we’re off. The Downtown Mountain Boys are a group of five veteran Puget Sound area musicians who have been together for at least seven years. Heartland is their second release. To begin with,…

DENNIS ELLIOTT FIDDLER’S DREA No Label No Number    This self-produced CD features Elliott’s obvious talents on banjo, mandolin, guitar, and especially fiddle. He has won many contests on fiddle, banjo, and mandolin, not only in his native Louisiana, but also in his current home in Virginia and beyond. His playing on these instruments is…

VOLUME FIVE THE DAY WE LEARN TO FLY Mountain Fever Records MFR140318 With several recordings under their belt, Volume Five takes their turn at an all-gospel recording. Such recordings can be tricky for bands. Often a band will let the material dictate their sound. They’ll sound one way as a secular group and roundly different…

SELDOM SCENE LONG TIME…SELDOM SCENE Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD40199  I felt a quiet sense of excitement and anticipation just opening this deeply inspired new retrospective collection and playing it for the first time. It’s a landmark release from a landmark band. It’s musical history. It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway), the Seldom…

DAROL ANGER e-and’a Adventure Music America AMA1086 2 Given the innovative nature of Darol Anger’s wide-ranging musical explorations, it’s easy to look at a title like e-and’a and think, “Oh, maybe he’s just decided to go one step beyond DNA.” And then, when you learn that the title is derived from counting off a tune…

THE STEVENS FAMILY BLUEGRASS BAND DOWN ON THE FARM Mountain Fever Records MFR 140415 This is a wonderful project from this very talented family band. Both vocally and instrumentally, the band is tight. The father, J.W. Stevens, plays banjo and sings bass. Nancy is the mother and sings. There are the three brothers, Luke (guitar,…