Reviews

RANDY WALLER & THE COUNTRY GENTLEMEN ONE MILE EAST OF HAZEL GREEN Lendel Records LR5611 Since taking over his father Charlie’s illustrious band seven or eight years ago, Randy Waller has faithfully carried on the adventurous and, at times, even urbane eclecticism that has informed the Country Gentlemen since the elder Waller co-founded the band…

VW BOYS RETROACTIVE Mountain Roads Records MRR-1011 The VW Boys continue releasing recordings that everyone, even if they won’t admit it, would find pleasing. That’s because The Boys get it. They understand that fun is a huge segment of entertaining, and that a big part of creating that fun is connecting with the audience through…

SIERRA HULL DAYBREAK Rounder Records 11661-0652-8 I first witnessed Sierra Hull’s talent at the IBMA’s World Of Bluegrass in Louisville, Ky., back when she was all of 11 years old. While she was truly a child prodigy and that will always be a part of her story, she is grown up now, folks. Hull will…

SCOTT ANDERSON TALES FROM THE SWAMP No Label MATO 1315 There are 13 tracks on Scott Anderson’s second solo release. Four are original songs by either Scott or his daughter, Amanda, and the other nine are covers. Only “Can’t You Hear Me Calling” and the instrumental “Temperance Reel” are bluegrass standards, though “Folsom Prison Blues”…

THE ROCKRIDGE BROTHERS NO SLEEP UNTIL ROCKRIDGE Red Rocking Records RRR06 These Swedes found punk rock too mainstream for their tastes, so they went for the ultimate grunge sound of American old-time mountain music. They are adept at the genre with Kristian Herner’s banjo being exceptional. Peter Frovik’s guitar and Pontus Juth’s bass form a…

RALPH STANLEY A MOTHER’S PRAYER Rebel Records CD-1840 At age 84, the venerable Ralph Stanley, at least in the cover photo on this stark new gospel collection, looks like a prophet; a prophet whose unwavering faith is anchored in long-ago childhood days when he worshipped alongside his mother in small, back-country, southern Virginia chapels. A…