Reviews

The Sharp Flatpickers Mountain Fever MFR 201120 This impressive band, assembled by ace guitarist Lee Kotick, takes hot picking to a new level on its sophomore album. Quite a few of these 14 mostly instrumental tracks delve deeply into tradition with fiery instrumentals on public domain chestnuts such as “Fisher’s Hornpipe,” “Blackberry Blossom,” “Arkansas Traveler”…

Roscommon County Line Mules & Men is an Irish four-piece string band from Dublin whose members are Lily Sheehan (guitar, vocals), Luke Coffey (banjo, vocals), Patrick “Paahto” Cummins (mandolin, vocals), and Niall Hughes (bass, vocals).  The band is known for their acid-Celtgrass approach to the music which is described as a shake-up of some of…

Emma John I think the phrase “If you have to ask, you’ll never understand” certainly applies to bluegrass music.  At least that is the way I’ve felt when I’ve returned from a festival or a jam session and tried to explain it to a non-bluegrass friend or family member what it is all about.  It…

Carolina Blue Billy Blue Records BBR-1654 Carolina Blue is an overnight success 13 years in the making. This traditional bluegrass band has been around awhile and made some noise with their previous album, I Hear the Bluegrass Calling Me, but their newest release puts them among the strongest in the genre. The dedication on Take…

Matt Dudman Pleasant Valley Music PVR-006 In the liner notes to his debut album, Matt Dudman, an outstanding mandolin player, singer and songwriter, describes its contents simply as, “some of my favorite rare songs done in the style I like best.” That style is old-timey bluegrass and gospel, done in the tradition of greats like…

High Fidelity Rebel Records REB-CD-1874 High Fidelity might be a fresh-faced looking group of young pickers and singers, but make no mistake — their sound is vintage bluegrass.  Banjo Player’s Blues, their third album, hits the mark with band’s title track hit, an old tune by Charlie Monroe. A close ear will note one variation:…