Reviews

LOCUST RIDGE HEALED Rural Rhythm Christian RCH-2019 About the only thing missing from this debut gospel recording by the east Tennessee quartet Locust Ridge is a rousing stand-up-and-shout number—the kind that rattles the pews. The closest they come are “Silver And Gold” and their cover of the public domain tune “Oh, I Want To See…

DONNA ULISSE SHOWING MY ROOTS Hadley Music Group HMG 1012 This new release from Donna is a tribute to some of her roots and influences she experienced as she grew up and developed her own career. In the opening cut, “Showing My Roots,” Donna gets a chance to salute some of the many writers and…

THE KENTUCKY HILLTOPPERS LIVE WKIC RECORDING FROM 1949 Mountain Broadcasting System 2012 Every once in a while, a CD project will surface that shows a little bit of the history of country and bluegrass music, although this band was more in line with the post World War II country and western style of the late…

LOU REID AND CAROLINA 20th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT: LIVE AT THE DOWN HOME KMA Records CD 00011 With twenty years behind the name and nine to ten years with two of his current bandmembers (bassist Christy Reid and banjoist Trevor Watson), Lou Reid brought his group, into the Down Home in Johnson City, Tenn., for an…

THE APOSTLES OF BLUEGRASS EDDIE’S AND EVERETT’S R-Way Music No Number On any given night nationwide, local bands are having a go at their own take on bluegrass, putting in four sets at a local nightspot or restaurant. The Apostles of Bluegrass from Mansfield, Ga., sixty miles east of Atlanta, are one such band, and…

BANJO MAN FRANK CASSEL AMERICAN ACOUSTIC No Label FC1003 Local Washington, D.C., area picker Frank Cassel has gathered together an ensemble of musicians, including the late Mike Auldridge, for this showcase of original tunes featuring the banjo. Helping out on the project is Dede Wyland (who also helped produce), Tad Marks (fiddle), Tara Linhardt (mandolin),…