Reviews

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),…

BRIAN VOLLMER OLD TIME MUSIC PARTY Patuxent Music CD-239 Brian Vollmer’s party includes him singing and playing fiddle, banjo, and guitar. Rosie Newton and Nate Leath also play fiddle with Brian and each other. Ben Townsend plays banjo and fiddle. Mark Schimick is on guitar and mandolin. Joseph DeJarnette plays bass. Sarah Jamison, Liz Pickard,…

MARK JOHNSON & EMORY LESTER 1863 Bangtown Records Bang CD6 This is a very satisfying release. The theme is music from 150 years ago, a sort of “hit” list from those days. There, of course, was a great bit of turmoil in our land at that time, but the music is imbued with a grace…

DIANA JONES MUSEUM OF APPALACHIA RECORDINGS Goldmine Recordings GMR001 Jones is a singer-songwriter who gathered some of the best sidemen in Nashville at a cabin in East Tennessee and did a live recording of this quiet collection of songs that churns up emotions like an eddy in a mountain stream. She plays guitar and is…