Reviews
Fox Hollow Memories: Songs I Wrote With Dixie and Tom T. Hall
Troy Engle Rocky Glen Music RGM-320 Fox Hollow, legendary singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall’s rustically elegant estate near Franklin, Tennessee, was often a gathering place for his extended musical family. ` For quite a long time during his formative years, Troy Engle, a well-credentialed singer, songwriter and picker who now heads his own accomplished bluegrass band,…
Randy Wood: The Lore of Luthier
Daniel Wile University of Tennessee Press Randy Wood is the Zelig of bluegrass, a man who has been involved deeply in bluegrass at many of its seminal events, from its earliest stages to the boom era of bluegrass on Nashville’s Broadway, and his current role as one of the legends in vintage instrument repair, restoration,…
John Hartford: Pilot of a Steam Powered Aero-Plain
Andrew Vaughan Henry David Thoreau said “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” After reading John Hartford: Pilot of a Steam Powered Aereo-Plain, I would say that John Hartford was…
Ordinary Soul
Stephen Mougin Dark Shadow Recording Stephen Mougin’s recent release, Ordinary Soul, is his highest-profile entry to date. He’s flown somewhat under the radar as the long-time guitarist in the Sam Bush Band, but with this entry, Steve has established credentials as a top-notch singer, songwriter and producer. Mougin’s warm, expressive voice and dazzling guitar chops…
Ned Luberecki’s True Fire Banjo Lessons
Bluegrass Bajo for Beginners Bluegrass Bajo Jam Survival Guide 30 Bluegrass Banjo Licks You Must Know Bluegrass Banjo Backup Banjo Lessons Taken as a whole, Ned Luberecki’s four True Fire video courses cover the bread and butter of beginning and intermediate bluegrass banjo playing in a way that’s fun, engaging and approachable. What makes these…
Distance and Time
Becky Buller Dark Shadow Recording DSR202002 It’s exhausting reviewing a Becky Buller album — a writer has to lug out a thesaurus to keep all the superlatives straight. Buller, the only performer to win IBMA vocalist and instrumentalist awards in the same year (2016) is at it again with her latest release, Distance and Time….