Reviews

JOE MULLINS & THE RADIO RAMBLERS THEY’RE PLAYING MY SONG Rebel Records CD1849 The latest release from southwest Ohio-based Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers isn’t just a vibrant, imaginative and robust (14-cut) collection. It’s also an illuminating primer on southern Ohio’s rich bluegrass heritage, which includes the late Paul “Moon” Mullins, Joe Mullins’ father,…

GRASSVILLE LONELY TONIGHT No Label No Number Grassville is a quartet based in Social Circle, Ga., consisting of banjoist Aaron Clegg, guitarist Jake Hegwood, fiddler John Rice and bassist John Nipper. Who sings what can’t be determined from the liner notes. The band is augmented by guest mandolin from Brian Stephans and guest fiddle from…

VOLUME FIVE DOWN IN A CELL Mountain Fever Records MFR100817 Although Down In A Cell is the first album by a band that debuted three years ago, each member of Volume Five has held tenure with national touring bands prior to their collective start. Mississippian Glen Harrell, who had fiddled with Marty Raybon and Full…

THE BANKESTERS Blue Circle Records BCR-031 Eleven songs. Eleven different individual writers or writing teams. Six different lead vocalists. That’s the breakdown on the Bankesters third release and first for Blue Circle Records. Some of the songs are country-pop concoctions, the best being the opener “Sure As The Sun,” a catchy, slow and bluesy love…

BROCK MCGUIRE BAND GREEN GRASS BLUE GRASS ROOTS MUSIC FROM IRELAND & AMERICA Paulman Music PMCD001 Take a first-rate Irish quartet and add four of the best American bluegrass pickers and a member of Elvis Costello’s band, the Sugarcanes, and you get a mighty lively recording that may cause you to get a speeding ticket…

CUMBERLAND RIVER THE LIFE WE LIVE Rural Rhythm RUR-1083 Hard times and more hard times. A “Harlan Man” without career options is crushed by falling coal. The ghost of “Mary Flynn,” killed by her lover, walks ceaselessly. Another murdered woman begs “Remember Me,” while other locals suffer with a “Cold And Withered” heart, or in…