Reviews

VARIOUS ARTISTS RURAL RHYTHM SALUTES BILL MONROE: 100th YEAR CELEBRATION, LIVE AT BEAN BLOSSOM Rural Rhythm RUR-1090 Add this gem to the list of tribute releases honoring the Father of Bluegrass on the hundredth anniversary of his birth. Recorded live at Bean Blossom in June 2011 and produced by Sammy Shelor, this package includes 12…

JANIE FRICKE COUNTRY SIDE OF BLUEGRASS New Music Deals NMD-CD-101 Janie Fricke becomes the most recent country performer to enter the bluegrass field. To that end, she has recast in a bluegrass setting her country hits from the 1980s. Of her seven songs that charted to number one, “Don’t Worry ’Bout Me Baby,” “It Ain’t…

THE COCKMAN FAMILY DEDICATED Heartwarming Records HTW092011003 There is a seemingly endless number of family bluegrass gospel bands, but few have achieved the level of professionalism found here. The Cockman Family has a firm musical base, and they play and sing with skill. They write the majority of their material, and it is all above…

McCAMY’S MELODY SHEIKS THERE’S MORE PRETTY GIRLS THAN ONE Arhoolie Records CD519 Those who saw the film Crumb might recall that cartoonist and musician Robert Crumb has a huge collection of old 78s in his house in southern France. Crumb’s recordings served as the inspiration for this band of English and American expatriates in France….

VARIOUS ARTISTS CLOSE KIN Mountain Roads MMR1012 Close Kin is definitely a concept recording; it even comes with a 15-minute DVD about the project. There are 16 tunes and songs performed by 29 musicians with old-time and bluegrass roots in combinations that mix people with different musical backgrounds. Take Adam and Tina Steffey, Jeanette and…

EDDIE AND MARTHA ADCOCK WITH TOM GRAY AND FRIENDS MANY A MILE Patuxent Music PXCD228 This is an interesting project. Eddie Adcock and Tom Gray were there in the early days of the Country Gentlemen, and here they revisit the catalog from that band. Starting with the title cut, we get smooth readings of some…