Reviews

THE GRASCALS LIFE FINDS A WAY Mountain Home MH13902 Comedian Steve Martin likes to say you can’t help but be happy when you hear a banjo, even on a sad song. That can apply, as well, to the latest recording from The Grascals. Listening to any of their 13 tracks and coming away without a…

NOAM PIKELNY BEAT THE DEVIL AND CARRY A RAIL Compass Records 7 4565 2 When Sammy Shelor won the $50,000 Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Bluegrass and Banjo in 2011, he decided to put the cash towards his retirement. Noam Pikelny, on the other hand, who won the first-ever Martin Prize the year before,…

LEE MARCUS GRANDPA’S POND No Label No Number Lee Marcus is a very talented banjo player from South Carolina who is a former member of Wayne Taylor and Appaloosa.  Marcus recently followed in Taylor’s footsteps (who was a member of the U.S. Navy’s Country Current band for over twenty years) by joining the United States…

THE OZAKI BROTHERS TILL WE MEET AGAIN Jasrac R-1210332 For their role in introducing and spreading bluegrass throughout Japan from the 1950s forward, the Ozaki Brothers were recently honored as a Pioneer of Bluegrass Music and by inclusion in the International Bluegrass Music Museum’s Video Oral History Project. That honor also included having one of…

STEEL WHEELS LAY DOWN LAY LOW No Label No Number I didn’t think I could review the entire disc, because my CD became permanently stuck on track three. I couldn’t stop listening to “Rain In The Valley,” an incredible harmonic convergence from this quintet. A solid bass drum lick and some extra percussion seasoned lightly…

FLATLAND DRIVE No Label No Number Flatland Drive is a five-piece, predominantly traditional-based band from Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore, featuring banjoist Curt Fox, mandolinist Brad Turner, reso-guitarist Alan Rausch, guitarist Lee Collins and bassist Rodney Collins. Everyone sings and everyone writes. Who sings what, the notes don’t say, though there are at least two…