Reviews

Since forming in 2015, West Virginia’s Crandall Creek has become one of bluegrass music’s well-known and popular groups, having been nominated for and winning a number of awards, and having their songs placed high on the music charts.  Founded by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Andrews, he is joined on this new release by original members…

The “Pickin’ On” series on CMH Records may have started as a whim or a novelty, but after three decades and dozens of releases, it’s become a cottage industry.  By now, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and The Eagles have all been “picked on,” along with seemingly less likely candidates like The Doors, Green Day, The…

Ohio musician Joe Mullins is one of bluegrass music’s stalwarts. He is an excellent banjo player whose career also included being a member of such bands as The Traditional Grass and Longview. He is also the owner of a radio station and is a broadcaster.   Since forming The Radio Ramblers in 2006, Mullins and…

When festival season ends and you’re pining for those summer times where bluegrass tunes are wrapped around over-the-top corny comedy bits, you may not have to wait for the spring thaw. The Billy Boucher Bluegrass Band may just have the product for you. It’s hard to believe the band can sing with tongues planted so…

The band is the brain-child of Portland, Oregon native Kenny Feinstein, who spent the past 15 years putting this group together. His original band was the Water Tower Bucket Boys which then became the Water Tower String band. He moved to Los Angeles in 2018 and reformed into the current Water Tower, whose members are…

Don Rigsby has had a distinguished, if rather nomadic career over the four decades covered by this retrospective. He’s released a half dozen or so solo albums and been in and out of as many bands – J.D. Crowe, the Bluegrass Cardinals, the Lonesome River Band, Rock County, and Longview among them. This rock-solid song…