Reviews

DUKE WEDDINGTON AND HIGHER GROUND BLUEGRASS AUBURN SKY No Label No Number This latest project from Weddington and company provides us with another helping of progressive bluegrass with some fine Celtic touches. When you get west of the Mississippi, new rules tend to apply to the genre. You still have to be a good picker,…

SHANNON SLAUGHTER HOLD ON TO YOUR HEART Elite Circuit Records No Number Slaughter is a singer-songwriter and a force to be reckoned with—his talents are obvious from the first listen. His band County Clare is reinforced with some serious horsepower by some of the very best pickers and singers found. This fifth project (third solo…

TROUT STEAK REVIVAL THE LIGHT WE BRING TS Records No Number This is the fifth release from this Colorado-based quintet. They are Bevin Foley (fiddle, violin, viola), Steve Foltz (mandolin, guitar), Casey Houlihan (bass), William Koster (resonator guitar, guitar), and Travis McNamara (banjo, piano, Wurlitzer). The band has produced a musical journey through roots music,…

EASY 2-CHORD SONGS FOR GUITAR BY WAYNE ERBSON Native Ground Books & Music 978-188-320-6772. CD included, 96 pp. (Native Ground Books, 109 Bell Rd., Asheville, NC 28805, www.nativeground.com.) Wayne Erbson, author and compiler of this collection of 33 two-chord American folk songs, has a knack for remembering what it’s like to start out trying to…

AARON JONAH LEWIS THE JOE MORELY PROJECT: MOZART OF THE BANJO Old Time Tiki Parlour 017 The level of banjo playing here is phenomenal. While some bluegrass banjo players try to tackle classical music on the banjo, this project exudes it. This is a tribute to Joe Morley, a composer of classic banjo pieces, a…

RANDY BARRETT SHAKE RATTLE AND ROAR Patuxent Music CD-339 The range and scope of banjo playing has grown exponentially over the past half century. The root music that Bill Monroe shaped into bluegrass has bloomed and grown like the sport scion that produces new things from the old gene pool. Barrett is that kind of…