Reviews

DS.M 20 Feb. 23, 2019 is a date fiddle legend Byron Berline will always remember with sorrow. A fire erupted in historic downtown Guthrie, OK where Berline had run his historic Double Stop Fiddle Shop for decades, destroying his business and an adjoining store. Berline, who was on a golf vacation in Mexico when the…

The publicity photos accompanying this release show Eli West at work in a small country chapel. In one particularly striking photo, he is seated in a pew, bathed in wan sunlight with his head bowed reverentially over his notepad with a microphone and cell phone in front of him. This photo in particular foretells the…

Shefa Records You’ve probably heard of rock operas, but would you believe a Civil War banjo opera?  Once you hear that it’s a Tony Trischka project, you’ll probably think, “Oh, okay, yeah.” Trischka has been pushing genre boundaries since his first album nearly 50 years ago. Shall We Hope is 18 tracks of spoken word,…

MGPR0003 Martin Gilmore is a talented singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from the Denver, Colorado area. He has performed around the U.S. and he recently returned from a two-year stint living in Cairo, Egypt, where he was able to perform in both Europe and Africa. He has performed with artists including Hot Rize, Uncle Earl, Infamous…

Daisy Caire It’s inspiring and heartwarming to encounter a young emerging talent like Northern Californian Daisy Caire. This 16-year-old is not just an enchanting singer and songwriter; she’s a fine fiddle player and guitar flatpicker to boot. Caire possesses a lovely sense of innocence and playfulness that’s simply irresistible. It comes through clearly in both…

Learning to play music by ear is an important skill, especially for bluegrass musicians. Having music notation or tablature with you in the campground or parking lot jam sessions is not always possible. Additionally, you are not always going to know the tunes that are called out at the jam. If you want to participate…