Reviews

Patuxent CD-360 Eddie Ray is a fiery, young, sixteen-year-old banjo player from North Carolina who grew up influenced by such bluegrass artists as Flatt & Scruggs and Reno & Smiley as well as Country, Latin, Jazz and more contemporary music. He is accompanied on this project by Danny Nicely (mandolin, guitar), Marshall Wilborn (bass), Patrick…

Molly Tuttle’s band is called Golden Highway and her new album is City of Gold and the first song is called “El Dorado.” The emerging theme here is something rare of high value and this CD fits the bill. Few acts have had the sustained heat of Tuttle and her supporting cast over the last…

This is the second album from one of the most exciting new ensembles on the scene.  For starters, the members are all highly accomplished instrumentalists and nearly all have served as sidemen for some of the biggest names in the business.  On top of that, they are nearly all singers, which brings an impressive variety…

Though still a relatively young man, Ben Krakauer has put together a remarkable career. He’s been a professor and lecturer at a number of prestigious universities. He’s an ethnomusicologist who has studied and written on topics ranging from experimental bluegrass in New York City in the 1970s to the dotara players of West Bengal. Krakauer…

Daryl Mosley, a former member of New Tradition, the Osborne Brothers band and The Farm Hands, is a charismatic singer and a remarkable songwriter.  The songs on his third album, much like on his 2020 The Secret of Life and his 2021 follow-up Small Town Dreamer, poignantly capture everyday virtues, sentiments, reminisces and musings on…

The band is called The Kody Norris “Show,” and over the last few years, a listener only must take in a couple of songs to get it.  The band’s latest release, Rhinestone Revival, is another step towards the top tier of bluegrass. Although the single “Mountain Rosalie” was released last fall, the full album didn’t…