Reviews

SNYDER FAMILY BAND STAGES Mountain Roads MRR-1013 Fans of family bands in bluegrass should be heartened—and should get out their wallets—as they will find Stages, the third release from the Snyder Family Band, a must-have. There is a lot to like about this album—nice song selection, extremely high-quality recording, and nice presentation. However, all of…

VARIOUS ARTISTS HOME CRAFT DAYS FESTIVAL LEGEND & LEGACY 40th ANNIVERSARY Mountain Empire Comm. Coll. No Number This two-CD collection of performances from the Home Craft Days Festival held at Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap, Va., is a good cross section of talent from the southwestern corner of Virginia, southeastern Kentucky, western…

UNITED STATES NAVY BAND COUNTRY CURRENT THIS IS…NAVY COUNTRY! No Label No Number Country Current is part of the public relations arm of the U.S. Department Of The Navy. You have got to love that part of it. I remember seeing Bill Emerson at his latest gig before going in to the Navy to play…

ANDY THORN & FRIENDS FIRE IN THE SKY Thornpipe Music No Number For me, the key to how good an album is depends on how it holds up after multiple listens. Since receiving this new project by Andy Thorn, Fire In The Sky, there are a handful of exceptional tunes on it that have not…

THE GATHERING (LAURELYN DOSSETT, RHIANNON GIDDENS, MIKE COMPTON, JOE NEWBERRY, JASON SYPHER) A WINTER’S TALE IN SIX SONGS Sycamore Road 050 If there’s one thing harder than reviewing a Christmas-themed recording in January, it’s recording it in August. But that’s what this assemblage did, taking inspiration from a six-song cycle composed by Polecat Creek’s Laurelyn…

SHADOW RIDGE HILLBILLY BIG SHOTS No Label No Number For their fifth recording, the Knoxville-based Shadow Ridge largely follows the song selection format of their previous releases, programming a fifty/fifty mix of warhorses and more obscure material. Regardless of the source, the overall presentation is good, with vocals (both lead and harmony) being their strongest…