Reviews

In a different timeline Vince Herman would have been an outlaw-country songwriter playing pinball with Waylon Jennings and rolling endless doobies with Willie Nelson while writing songs that would have been classics on the fringe of country.  In this timeline Herman has been the leader of the progenitors of slamgrass and jamgrass pioneers Leftover Salmon,…

The Tennessee Bluegrass Band has one distinction going for it right off: This excellent quintet has two Lincolns: Lincoln Hensley on banjo and occasional guitar and Lincoln Mash on bass and lead vocals. Fortunately, there’s a whole lot more that sets this ensemble apart. Produced by Jerry Salley, The Future of the Past has a…

For the better part of five decades banjo master Terry Baucom, a multi-IBMA Award winner, has had a dynamic presence on the bluegrass scene. He was a founding member of Boone Creek, Doyle Lawson’s Original Quicksilver, The New Quicksilver and IIIrd Tyme Out. Along the way, he’s been a member of several other high-profile bands….

The Tall Poppy String band was created by George Jackson (fiddle), Mark Harris (guitar), and Cameron DeWhitt (banjo). They have made what they say is a new approach to the feel of old-time traditional string band music. Jackson is a fiddle player originally from New Zealand but now is based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has…

Martha Spencer is a singer/songwriter/dancer who is based in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains area. She has performed and traveled in the US, Europe, and Australia, while performing with a variety of groups. On this new project, she plays guitar, banjo, and bass. Spencer sings most of the lead vocals in her bright, soprano delivery. She…

It’s not a stretch at all to believe that Damn Tall Buildings got their start busking on the streets of Boston.  It’s been written that they are “bluegrass with a little punch, attitude, grit and gravy”—that’s about right.  The Boston Globe even managed to reference Flatt & Scruggs, Nickel Creek, Old Crow Medicine Show, Edward…