Reviews
Just Off the Wilderness Road, Songs of the Cumberland Gap Region
A concept album of 16 songs focusing on stories and characters from the Cumberland Gap area of Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia takes the listener back in time. Twenty-seven artists whose familes are originally from the region are featured, with lead vocals from Teddy Cosby, Bryan Turner, Phillip Powers, James Clark, Joseph Wilson, Randall Massengill, Jason…
Brothersville
The Flowers brothers, Doug and Dwayne, live in the small town of Hephzibah, Georgia, not far from Augusta. The town’s original name was Brothersville, hence the name of this new project from Doug and his band. Band members include Doug Flowers (mandolin, vocals), Dwayne Flowers (bass, vocals), Edward Dalton (guitar, vocals), Aaron Lamb (banjo, vocals),…
Masters of Tonewood: The Hidden Art of Fine Stringed-Instrument Making
Many bluegrass musicians love to “geek-out” about their instruments. They talk about the make, the model, the builder, the year it was built, the woods used, the dimensions, the strings, the bridges, the tuners, the nuts and saddles…it is not uncommon for anything and everything about the instruments to be studied, analyzed and discussed. Since…
The Earl Scruggs Banjo Songbook: Selected Banjo Tab Accurately Transcribed For Over 80 Tunes!
If you are a bluegrass banjo player, you are probably already searching the internet for a place to buy this book simply by reading the title (if you don’t have it already). I’m not sure that I could say anything in this review to change your mind. So, my job in writing this review is…
Balsam Range
Writing about Balsam Range is like trying to write about George Washington or Robert E. Lee or Abraham Lincoln—it takes a minute to find something to say that hasn’t already been said. After all, they’ve turned out nine albums over the last 14 years and have won so many group and individual awards that’s so…
Deeper Shade of Blue
This North Carolina-based powerhouse band, which marks its 20th anniversary with this impressive album, has just about everything going for it, including four talented lead singers, robust harmonies and a strong in-house supply of original material. Deeper Shade of Blue also represents a delightful and valuable throwback to the formative mainstream bluegrass styles of the…