Reviews

PHARIS AND JASON ROMERO BET ON LOVE Lula Records Lula-CD-2006 With Bet On Love, British Columbia’s Pharis and Jason Romero continue to burnish their already lofty reputation as leading producers of stellar new songs informed by old-time, folk, and bluegrass music. Showcasing and exploring the potential of Pharis’ lustrous vocals, Bet On Love also finds…

JB & JAMIE DAILEY STEP BACK IN TIME Pinecastle Records PRC1238 As the saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. What a mighty tree Jamie Dailey toppled from! The talented tenor of Dailey & Vincent teams up with his gifted dad, JB, for the full-length collaboration, Step Back In Time. Before the…

PROF. DAN BONER WEST OF WEST VIRGINIA No Label No Number Professor Dan Boner is the Director of Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Studies at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tenn. This is Boner’s third self-produced project and includes a number of familiar selections and a few originals. Boner plays guitar and fiddle and…

APPALACHIAN ROAD SHOW TRIBULATION Billy Blue Records BBR1323 Appalachian Road Show’s sophomore album is an ambitious concept brilliantly executed. The 16 tracks on Tribulation, including a series of meditative spoken passages linking the songs into an overall theme, capture the celebration and sorrow, loss and regeneration, faith and perseverance of that unique and often troubled region…

THOMM JUTZ TO LIVE IN TWO WORLDS, VOLUME I Mountain Home MH18592    Nashville-based singer/guitarist Thomm Jutz presents the first of two all-original albums on the Mountain Home Music label. Originally from Germany, Jutz has become captivated by the music and history of the American South. Fourteen originals are presented here, co-written with Mark Milan, Trey…

STEVE THOMAS AND THE TIME MACHINE ALL OF THESE YEARS Bonfire Recording Company BRC-5015 Thomas and company have made a strong recording of modern bluegrass. Part country-rock, a splash of classic country, and even some straight-up old-school bluegrass fill the tracks on this album. Thomas is in great form with his vocals and on fiddle,…