Reviews

Brittany Haas is one of the most in-demand fiddle players working today. This is due, in large part, to her incredible ability to match the form of any project. She bows with an old-time fury and righteousness on Michael Daves’ double album, Orchids and Violence, but is equally at home carrying lilting, pastoral melodies alongside…

I attended my first Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas in September of 1996.  I had just started publishing Flatpicking Guitar Magazine and since the Walnut Valley Festival hosts the National Flatpicking Guitar Championship, Winfield seemed to be a good place for me to be.  At the time, I had only printed one issue and…

Apparently, being in one of the hottest bluegrass bands going wasn’t enough for Laura Orshaw, so she has put out a smoking solo album.  Solitary Diamond is loaded with well-known guests, but make no mistake—it is the jumping fiddle and strong vocals of Orshaw that get showcased in this must-have CD. There are a handful…

After four decades and nearly countless personnel changes, the Lonesome River Band remains as vital and energetic as ever on this robust 13-song outing, which features two new band members, Adam Miller (lead vocals and mandolin) and Kameron Keller (bass).    LRB’s impressive longevity owes in great part to bandleader and banjo master Sammy Shelor….

North Carolina native Frank Poindexter is uncle to the Rice Brothers, Tony, Larry, Wyatt, and Ron. Through Mountain Fever records and Dex Records, this unique and special project is the last studio session that Poindexter was to play with all four brothers. Sadly, Larry passed away in 2006 and Tony in 2020. This session has…

East Tennessee-based Alex Leach, former long-time guitar/banjo player and vocalist behind Ralph Stanley II, only just formed his own band, along with his wife Miranda, in late 2019. But he’s already carved out an impressive niche as a front man.  Both husband and wife are powerful singers. Alex has an appealing and intense high-lonesome vocal…