Reviews

The Bing Brothers are West Virginia legends, a rare band that plays with true drive and power. That is proven yet again by their latest album Just In Time, a rollicking mix of upbeat string band music done in their particular, impressive style.  In the Mountain State the division between old-time music and bluegrass is…

Some years ago, these five talented musicians embarked on a long-term mission: to capture for posterity a particular strain of old-timey string band music that was often played at fiddler’s conventions back in the 1960s and 1970s. It’s a style that the Ramblers themselves have been immersed in for nearly a decade. In the liner…

“Home is where we shelter out the storm, and home is where the fire keeps us warm,” sings Leftover Salmon banjo-picker Andy Thorn on the opening track from his new solo release, Fox Songs and Other Tales from the Pandemic, an album crafted during the dark days of a growing worldwide pandemic and a gentle…

Sometimes a great attribute for an album is to be called “different.” Down in the Deepest Shade of Blue is different and it sounds, well, old.  I don’t know Steve Ludwig or any Casual Hobos, but I think this group would take that as a compliment. It’s their first album and all eight songs were…

There’s something special, something almost unquantifiable, that an assured and accomplished veteran brings to a musical project.  And you can sure hear that something special on singer extraordinaire/mandolin master Tina Adair’s new solo album, her first in nearly a decade. Adair, of course, has had a high profile of late as a member of the…

Rebel Records REB- 1975 Larry Sparks has never been shy about his belief of Jesus as his Lord and Savior. While there are many ways to approach such subject matter in the music world, Sparks keeps it simple, unapologetic and thankfully non-denominational.  Gospel music, however, can be as equally subjective as the 100-plus denominations found…