Reviews

Billy Blue Records Doyle Lawson recently announced that he will be retiring from touring at the end of 2022, but it’s clear with his new album out that he plans on exiting with a bang.  Roundtable is a collection of a dozen songs that can simply be described as what you’d expect from Lawson and…

Jesse Brock, winner of the 2009 and 2015 IBMA “Mandolin Performer of the Year” awards, burst on to the scene while he was still just a kid.  Since then, he has performed with numerous bands, including the CW Brock Family, the Lynn Morris Band, Chris Jones and the Night Drivers, Audie Blaylock and Redline and…

This veteran New Mexico-based trio brings a captivating Southwestern perspective to its bluegrass and fleshes it out with some sophisticated songwriting and spirited picking and singing. The southwestern flavor shines through vividly on cuts like the nostalgic story-song “Weary Cowboy,” a rollicking cover of Guy Clark’s and Verlon Thompson’s “Hurricane Time In Texas” and “Adobe…

Howdy Skies Records One of the many thoughts that came into my head as I isolated myself in the western North Carolina Mountains during the pandemic was a hope that musicians would step up and document these crazy times of half a million Covid-19 deaths, social unrest and the higher priority put on technology during…

Very Jerry Records — VJR-005 Since 1982, Jerry Salley has become one of the most accomplished and sought-after songwriters in country, bluegrass, and gospel circles. His songs have been recorded by many, many artists from such as Travis Tritt, Reba McIntire, and Brad Paisley to Chris Stapleton, Rhonda Vincent, Doyle Lawson, Patty Loveless, The Talleys,…

SWEET RIVER BAND SRB02 Sweet River Band is a five-piece group based in Nantes, France.  This project showcases their affection for American music with a collection of tunes showing their influences of bluegrass, old time, blues, swing, folk, country, and even rock-and-roll. The group is Claude Cordina (guitar), Patrick Couton (banjo, dobro, autoharp), Sébastien Farges…