Reviews

Georgia’s Bibb City Ramblers were formed in 2007 by friends Brian Fowler (mandolin) and Dan Davidson (guitar, harmonica, vocals). In 2010 the duo was joined by Dan’s wife Gini Davidson on bass and vocals. Then in 2020 fiddle player Dan Campbell signed up, rounding out the band to a foursome. Focusing on and influenced by…

This is simply one gem of an album, guaranteed to warm even the cynical, holiday-averse hearts. It’s also a lovely, down-home and heartfelt alternative to the canned carols that are force-fed to us at places like Walmart—intended, I suppose, to encourage us to shop more and buy more stuff. The Perfect Gift is also a…

In the increasingly crowded arena of custom and boutique flatpicks, we’ve seen an interesting trend develop. One on side, we find makers who’ve discovered that certain existing industrial materials developed for wildly different purposes than plucking the string of a guitar or mandolin can be fashioned into world-class plectra. The second track we see is…

Steve Bruce is a local pastor in LaFollette, Tennessee, who is also a banjo player and songwriter. On this project of his original material, Bruce is accompanied by his son Andrew Bruce (guitar, bass, resonator guitar), and guests Ron Stewart (mandolin, fiddle), and Glen Duncan (fiddle).  This is an all-instrumental project with Bruce’s excellent banjo…

Charmaine Slaven and Charlie Beck met while exploring and promoting the old-time music and dance scene in the local Seattle, Washington Area. They continued in the manner for a few years and eventually resettled in the Brasstown, North Carolina area, and, along with daughter Hazel, they immersed themselves in the historic musical legacy of the…

Mark Whitt makes no bones about his love for playing and promoting traditional bluegrass music.  One need to look no further for the evidence of this Kentuckian’s desire to preserve the old time sound than his third album, Tennessee Moon. Whitt went into the vault to cover tunes from Earl Scruggs, Bill Monroe and Carter…