CHARLIE AND CEDRIC OUT ON THE RIDGE

CHARLIE AND CEDRIC
OUT ON THE RIDGE
Lara Natural Music
LNM009

Charlie Boston is a bluegrass singer and songwriter from London, England. Cedric Thorose is originally from Baltimore, Md. Having moved to London and taking his resonator guitar with him, he appears here singing a great song about the longing of a factory worker for home in “Here To Tennessee.” His playing is fine and fits well with the group of handpicked bluegrass A-team session players including Bryan Sutton, Aubrey Haynie, Adam Steffey, Scott Vestal, Andy Leftwich, Mike Bub and Dennis Crouch, and Monty Allen providing vocal harmonies. The Nashville crew does an excellent job as we would all expect. Leanne Thorose splits lead on two cuts with Boston and adds some nice harmonies to a couple of tracks.

Boston is not a compelling bluegrass singer. His songs have some interesting turns to them but the material is not classic bluegrass. The lyrics are tempered with a knowing optimism, and a kind of pragmatism not found in many songs today. “Keep Hold Of Your Heart” and “The House Always Wins” display this jaunty outlook, with decidedly European references to subjects such as Russian millionaires, something most bluegrass folks don’t know anything about.

Too bad Cedric Thorose did not sing more here. His voice is one that rests well on the ear and breathes an honesty that is undeniable. His playing is clean and not showy but always interesting. (Lara Natural Music, 22A Ives St., Chelsea, London SW3 2ND, U.K., www.laramusic.co.uk.)RCB