HINDSIGHT BLUEGRASS
HINDSIGHT BLUEGRASS
2020
No Label
No Number
The North Carolina band Hindsight Bluegrass has self-produced and released its first recording, 2020. The band is comprised of bluegrass veterans and former bandmates. Banjo player and vocalist Stan Brown played with spouse Julie Brown (bass player) in a prior band. Stan also played in a college band with the late resonator player Gene Wooten in the Wahoo Revue. Stan logged two LPs with Wilma Lee Cooper and some appearances with Bill Monroe. His credentials are well established. Add Fiddlin’ Al McCanless to Hindsight Bluegrass, and one gets an additional 50 years of performing experience, including with newgrass group The New Deal String Band (appearing in the DVD Bluegrass Country Soul), as well as the Bluegrass Experience and the Red Clay Ramblers.
Scott Hancock, another North Carolinian, plays guitar and handles the lead and some tenor vocals. Hancock contributes his original “Time Waits For No One,” which he reports was inspired while watching a river continuously flowing. Add Jim Boren into the mix on resonator guitar, vocals, and songwriting contributions, and we have a solid five-piece bluegrass band.
The CD contains 11 tracks, with covers of “Wayfaring Stranger,” “Will You Be Lonesome Too,” Chris Hillman’s “Love Reunited,” “Matthew 24,” “What’s Your Mama’s Name,” “The Blind Fiddler” with lead vocals by McCanless, and Hylo Brown’s “Lost To A Stranger” with fine lead vocals from Hancock. Boren’s composition of “Long Sleepless Night” features his lead vocals, reminiscent of a softer Stanley Brothers sound. Boren also wrote “Dancing With Annabelle,” an instrumental inspired by his daughter’s doll with the same name. It will have your toes tapping in pleasing rhythm. Another instrumental is “Jake Brake” from banjoist Brown. It has the most drive of all the numbers and besides Stan’s banjo, the fiddle and resonator guitar also get breaks on this one.
This is pleasant listening in somewhat of a laidback style. Add this to your library for some good music that doesn’t contain a harsh edge or metallic in-your-face sound. (www.hindsightbluegrass.com)BW
