DALE ANN BRADLEY

DALE ANN BRADLEY

Pinecastle Records
PRC 1209

Once again, Ms. Bradley asserts her powerful pipes on a wide range of songs with a host of guest singers. Unlike years gone by when a popular or country song would sneak its way into a bluegrass project, here we are treated to a few bluegrass numbers among the modern country sounding pieces. Vince Gill’s voice takes you back to the mountains on the Stanley Brothers’ classic “I’ll Just Go Away,” and then there’s the dreamy “Going Back To Kentucky” that is definitely not the Bill Monroe classic, but instead a sweet, dreamy bit of nostalgia. “If You Were Mine To Lose” is classic country via Conway Twitty. The Stanleys’ “Our Last Goodbye” gets the sweet treatment with Tina Adair on harmonies, sounding similar to the sweet harmonies that Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton waxed in the past.

The musicians on this project reads like a who’s who of modern acoustic musicians and would take countless words to tell you who they all are with all the due superlatives. Let’s just say that this is some major production, featuring first and foremost the wonderful vocals of Dale Ann and a range of songs that may be a little too modern for the old moldy figs, but should please those who love the contemporary status of bluegrass. There are no killed animals or hard-scrabble songs, nor wrecked trains or cabins. There is some mighty-fine gospel on “One More River To Cross” and “Stand By Me,” with its righteous quartet.

Bluegrass keeps pushing the boundaries that define it. This project does it tastefully with an easy grace. It is no longer the rural music we once knew and loved, but then she also sings about that here. (www.pinecastlemusic.com)RCB