Reviews

I DRAW SLOW REDHILLS Pinecastle Records PRC1178 The Irish band I Draw Slow has been getting a lot of buzz lately. Their new album Redhills, on the resurrected Pinecastle label, showcases the group’s blend of bluegrass, Celtic and old-time music. The group is made up of Louise Holden, Dave Holden, Adrian Hart, Konrad Liddy, and…

PAUL WILLIAMS & THE VICTORY TRIO GOING TO STAY IN THE OLD TIME WAY Rebel Records REB-CD-1852 Paul Williams continues his arc to becoming one of the greatest gospel figures in bluegrass music. His background is well known. He was a mainstay of a classic edition of Jimmy Martin & the Sunny Mountain Boys, playing…

WAYWARD VESSEL BEFORE THE GREY No Label No Number Is there an emerging style that we can call “alternative bluegrass?” Bands such as Crooked Still, Mountain Heart, and Old Crow Medicine Show come immediately to mind. The alternative bluegrass sound is not the high, lonesome variety of Bill Monroe or the Stanley Brothers. It doesn’t…

JESSE MCREYNOLDS LOVE SONGS FROM THE PICK INN: MUSIC FOR WEDDINGS J & J Music JJ1006 Last time out, Jesse McReynolds was mining the songbook of the Grateful Dead. With this recording, he’s off in a different direction entirely, presenting an album of love songs that are especially geared toward weddings, which it so happens,…

BREAKING GRASS RUNNING WITH THE MOON No Label No Number Sometimes a recording contains a song that stops you short. The rest of the songs may vary from merely okay on up to really good, but that one track won’t let you go. Such is the case with the second release from Breaking Grass, an…

ACOUSTIC BLUE BEIN’ COUNTRY Bishop Hill Records BHR 2012 Acoustic Blue, a four-man band from the Berkshire Mountains of New England, has been nothing if not prolific over the last several years, producing albums in 2006, 2007, 2009, a live DVD in 2010, and then an album per year over the next three years, culminating…