Reviews

Published by Alfred Music Self-directed learning can be a challenge, even in a resource-richenvironment. When there’s so much good stuff to study and so many ableteachers willing to provide guidance, questions abound. Where do Istart? What direction should I take? What’s important to learn at whatpoint in the process? How do I recognize landmarks and…

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…