Reviews

ADAM STEFFEY NEW PRIMITIVE Organic Records OR14692 Though he is often found in somewhat contemporary groups (AKUS, Mountain Heart, and currently the Boxcars), Adam Steffey is at heart a traditional mandolinist. Fully a master of spinning modern lines and interesting twists, he is equally masterful among the older styles and with the older tunes. That…

PRETTY GOOD FOR A GIRL: WOMEN IN BLUEGRASS BY MURPHY HICKS HENRY University of Illinois Press 9780252079177. Paperback, 469 pp., 66 b&w photos, $29.95. (Univ. Of Illinois Press, 1325 S. Oak St., MC-566, Champaign, IL 61820, press.uillinois.edu.) Let us now praise famous women and those who should be. Readers of this magazine are well familiar…

CHRIS HENRY MAKING MY WAY TO YOU Arrandem Records AR-250 Back in 2006, Chris Henry wrote and recorded “Walkin’ West To Memphis,” a strutting, ’50s-style bluegrass/country hybrid with more hooks than a hat rack—great lyrics, great feel. Not surprisingly the song charted to number five a few years later for The Gibsons and was nominated…

MARTY HAYS WISH WE HAD OUR TIME AGAIN No Label No Number Marty Hays secured his name in bluegrass by singing and playing bass with David Davis & the Warrior River Boys. This album shows off his strong clear voice in a program of bluegrass and country songs. From a song taken from Dock Boggs,…

JARED FINCK DAUNTING TASK No Label No Number As the musical bar rises, seemingly every few years, so too the number of extremely talented musicians. That presents problems. For one, how much do you praise someone playing on a level, at least technically, as good or better than the greats of ten or twenty years…

NELL ROBINSON & JIM NUNALLY HOUSE & GARDEN Nell Robinson Music NRM-103 By sheer coincidence, this duet album by Nell Robinson and Jim Nunally arrived shortly after reviewing a CD by Dix Bruce and Julie Cline. Bruce and Nunally are longtime duet partners who have released four recordings together, and it’s interesting to observe the…