Reviews

Barbaro is a four-piece band based in the Minneapolis-Winona area of Minnesota. Members include Isaac Sammis on banjo, Kyle Shelstad on guitar, Rachel Calvert on fiddle, Jason Wells on bass, and the group is joined on this project by guest artist Julian Davis on mandolin.  It was back in 2018 when the band gained recognition…

Orchard Creek Band is yet another powerhouse bluegrass ensemble to recently emerge from Colorado’s vibrant and vital bluegrass scene. Though this is the band’s debut outing, the individual members bring a ton of professional experience to their shared endeavor. It’s no slight to Colorado to mention that nearly all the members have musical roots in…

Bonfire Music Group If you’re in a hurry when you get to this review and just want the writer to get to the point, let him save you some time: go ahead and buy All of These Years, the debut album from Steve Thomas and The Time Machine. If it seems to odd to see…

There once was a time when supergroups, those unique combinations of musicians who had already achieved great success with other bands before banding together, regularly roamed the earth, but over time these collections and configurations of musicians seemed to happen less and less.  Then along comes the High Hawks, an all-star roster of talent from…

Tiki Parlour Recordings 019 The duo has an unusual name, an uncommon make up, and a catchy, foot-tapping sound that proves irresistible over a 12-song effort. Gabrielle Macrae and Barry Southern are the Horsenecks and Started Out in Town is their third album. It’s a worthy effort. Macrae is a fiddle player from Oregon who…

Pine Castle Records Bradley, a five-time IBMA “Female Vocalist of the Year” award winner, former member of the Coon Creek Girls and Sister Sadie and one of the best singers around, recently noted that, “bluegrass can go anywhere, do anything, rip your heart out and make you laugh.” Most of these 10 songs will do…