Reviews

RICHARD CIFERSKY COMING BACK FOR MORE Velvet Music No number Richard Cifersky is a banjoist based in Slovakia. Formerly a member of the band Fragment, he’s toured both in Europe and the U.S. with Dale Ann Bradley, Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, and Gold Heart. On this, his third solo album, he follows the template…

NEWTOWN TIME MACHINE Pisgah Ridge PR 15032 This eminently talented Lexington, Ky.-based band is simply a delight. NewTown’s sound is largely framed around powerful lead vocals from husband and wife team Kati Penn-Williams (vocals and fiddle) and Jr. Williams (vocals and banjo). Also key to the band’s immense appeal is the inspired songwriting of guitarist…

JOEL MABUS PEPPER’S GHOST & OTHER BANJO VISITATIONS Fossil Records #2313 Joel Mabus has always been sort of a musical freak of nature, one who is not easily pigeonholed or categorized. A brilliant songwriter and singer, he is also a gifted storyteller and a very adept instrumentalist on old-time banjo and bluegrass guitar. Check out…

PETER SOMERVILLE IN THE MORNING GLOW No Label No Number Australians, at least some of them, really love American old-time and bluegrass music. They aren’t as picky as Americans are about which is which, but they love it and play it just the same. Here banjo player, Peter Somerville plays both clawhammer and Scruggs-style banjo…

RENO & HARRELL RENO BOUND John Boy and Billy No Number This CD represents a reunion of sorts, in that Dale and Don Wayne Reno and Mitch Harrell, not surprisingly, spent a fair amount of time together growing up, living next door to one another in Maryland with their fathers forming the legendary Reno &…

MIPSO DARK HOLLER POP Robust Records RBST008 What we have here is an indie rock/pop/Americana trio from Chapel Hill with Jacob Sharp on mandolin, Joseph Terrell on guitar, and Wood Robinson on bass. All three sing. At one time or the other, they learned and played bluegrass and old-time, and those musical forms weave through…