Reviews

Darol Anger’s unmistakable fiddle tone has graced a huge variety of recording projects from Dawg music to bluegrass to jazz and a few stops in-between. A founding member of the David Grisman Quintet, Anger’s distinctive sound, produced on his five-string violin, has dueled melodically with virtually every contemporary bluegrass master.      His latest project,…

On their new CD, Wild Mountain Honey, Riverbend steers a course sticking close to the traditional bluegrass found on their earlier disc. Populated with strong (mostly) covers of traditional bluegrass tunes from Mac Wiseman, the Delmore Brothers, Bill Monroe and more, Riverbend blends classic and contemporary influences into a strong original sound.     The…

Every once in a while, in the greater bluegrass world, you come across a new album that sounds fresh and feels good and that is the case for the new release Flyin’ High by The Wooks.  Based out of Lexington, KY, and Nashville, the Wooks are made up of bluegrass veteran CJ Cain on guitar…

It is hard not to think of Darren Nicholson’s sense of humor not far into his latest solo album, Man on a Mission.  The opening bars of the first song, “Love is War,” start with hard driving banjo and fiddle and the sound Nicholson is known for with Balsam Range and his main side-gig, the…

Derek Johnson, who has spent more than a decade with Monroe Crossing, has released a new solo project entitled Hard Life.  Johnson calls his “band” on the album Hardgrass, but it is a collection of 19 guest musicians from Minnesota—where he’s based—and Wisconsin. Johnson, who has also performed as part of The High 48s and…

Restless Wanderer is R. Wesley Carr’s first full-length project. Carr is the 2019 winner Winfield, Kansas’ National Mandolin Championship and the title song won the New Song songwriting contest. Carr studied classical music at Northern Illinois University and is a graduate of East Tennessee State’s music program. This collection is a mix of originals and…