Reviews

NU-BLU THE BLU-DISC Pinecastle Records PRC 1176 Nu-Blu is a fine young band from North Carolina which features a very tight, polished sound, impressive instrumental work, and excellent vocals led by Carolyn Routh. On this, their second release (and the first for the newly active Pinecastle label) they present 12 well-chosen and engaging cuts that…

DALE ANN BRADLEY SOMEWHERE SOUTH OF CRAZY Compass Records 7 4564 2 Dale Ann Bradley has been on a roll of late. She has seen the ups and downs of music business virtually at the same time in recent years. Yet her string of IBMA awards are well-deserved, as anyone who has seen her live…

DONNA ULISSE AN EASY CLIMB Hadley Music Group HMG 1007 There have been many examples of mainstream country music missing the boat on some very good vocalists over the years. Some of those singers, in turn, have thankfully landed in the bluegrass genre. What is Nashville Pop’s loss has been bluegrass music’s gain in many…

VARIOUS ARTISTS MOODY BLUEGRASS: TWO…MUCH LOVE Bunny Rae Records BRRMBG2 There have been a lot of albums released in recent years with a “bluegrass style” tag on them, which usually means non-bluegrass music played with bluegrass instruments. Many are full of great music, but the bluegrass sound never really kicks in. However, the new album,…

RICK PARDUE AND TIMMY MASSEY THE GHOST OF NOAH HAYES Lizard Records LCD12011 The witty, perceptive, to-the-bone songwriters Rick Pardue and Timmy Massey have combined their considerable talents with guitarist Jimmy Haley, mandolinist Jason Tomlin and fiddler David Johnson and have produced an entertaining all-original, 12-song CD. Massey wrote four of the songs here, plays…

FINNDERS AND YOUNGBERG FY5 No Label No Number While some bands are mainly about flashy instrumental work, the Colorado quintet Finnders and Youngberg seem to be principally about the songs. Most on FY5 are by guitarist Mike Finnders, who takes the lion’s share of the lead vocals. He’s a storyteller at heart, converting his experiences…