Reviews
Renewal
Coming off winning a Grammy for his stunning 2019 release Home, plus an IBMA “Entertainer of the Year” award in Raleigh last October, Billy Strings, in many ways, defines bluegrass music in the 21st Century for a multitude of fans. The subject of an in-depth portrait in The New York Times that plumbed the depths…
Ramble in Music City
In 1998, throat-worn and road weary, the divine Miss Emm needed a musical break from touring with her thrilling, yet vocally taxing, fully electric Hot Band. Looking for not just relief for her physical voice, but also for her muse, Harris turned to longtime friend John Starling, and the good doctor penned the perfect prescription….
Day by Day
Norman Blake, who has recorded and collaborated with everyone from Bob Dylan and Joan Baez to Johnny Cash and Tony Rice, is a devoted keeper of the keys to the heritage and history of American popular music. Blake’s latest record—which he recorded in a single afternoon in a Fort Payne, Alabama studio—contains of couple of…
Radio Days
It’s rare for bands to stay together for long in any genre or to keep a franchise going through multiple generations of listeners. However, the Chuck Wagon Gang has defied that pattern. The group has been around for 80 years, obviously with many, many band changes. It started during the golden age of radio and…
Somewhere Beyond The Blue
This powerhouse, multi-IBMA Award-winning band bounds out full-tilt on this soulful 11-song bluegrass gospel collection. Aside from the Ramblers’ commanding gospel quartet vocal arrangements and top-notch picking, Beyond the Blue is informed with an inspired balance of traditional material and newer compositions by some of the music’s most celebrated composers. The rousing opening track, “Hear…
I’ll Come Back
Maybe it’s a double-edged sword to call someone a prodigy, so I won’t use the word here. Even so, 23-year-old AJ Lee, singer/songwriter/mandolin player/bandleader extraordinaire is something special. For starters, she launched her bluegrass career at age 7, along with her guitarist Sullivan Tuttle, who was then 9. They started out as members of The…