Reviews

KEN & BRAD KOLODNER SKIPPING ROCKS Fenchurch Music 07 This new and, in their own words, neo-traditional CD from Ken and Brad Kolodner (father and son) is subtitled Original And Traditional Appalachian Old-Time Music. They play a mix of original and traditional tunes on a variety of instruments. For example, the first cut “The Orchard”…

THE GRASCALS WHEN I GET MY PAY Mountain Home MH14852 Playing through the 13 songs of the follow-up release to the Grascals’ highly successful Life Finds A Way, it’s quickly apparent on many of the tracks that the drums have been brought forward a notch. Doing so does change The Grascals’ sound a bit, toughening…

RESCUE JUNCTION ON ANY ROAD No Label RS2013-07 This is the second project from this entertaining group from Ontario, Canada, following their self-titled release in 2011. The duo of Kyle and Kaitlyn Gerber is joined on the session by Roger Martin (banjo) and Dallas Roth (bass). Guest musicians include Skip Cherryholmes (guitar), Randy Morrison (fiddle),…

FROG TROUBLE—BY SANDRA BOYNTON Workman Publishing 9780761171768. Hardback, 65 pp., includes 12-song CD, $16.95. (Workman Publishing, 225 Varick St., New York, NY 10014, www.workman.com.) As the mother of a two-year-old I was very familiar with Sandra Boynton before this CD and book landed on my desk to review. She writes and illustrates kids’ books (Barnyard…

VARIOUS ARTISTS DAUGHTERS OF BLUEGRASS: PICKIN’ LIKE A GIRL Blue Circle Records BCR-036    How wonderful it is to be living in an era when Dixie Hall can spearhead a new three-CD project featuring the Daughters Of Bluegrass and proudly title it Pickin’ Like A Girl. Times have changed! This remarkable set of 52 songs by…

NOAM PIKELNY PLAYS KENNY BAKER PLAYS BILL MONROE Compass Records 4616 With a lineup led by Noam Pikelny on banjo with Mike Bub on bass, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Ronnie McCoury on mandolin and Bryan Sutton on guitar, there’s no reason to wonder about the musical quality of this third recording by Pikelny for Compass….