NEWTOWN

NEWTOWN
OLD WORLD

Mountain Home
MH17202

This is the fourth release for this Lexington, Ky., band which consists of Kati Penn (fiddle), Jr. Williams (banjo), Aaron Ramsey (guitar), Travis Anderson (bass), and Mitchell Cannon (mandolin). The project includes song selections from Tyler Childers, Donna Hughes, and Eric Cummins, among others. Each tune is presented with solid instrumentation, great lead vocals, and tight harmonies.

The album opens with “Fly Way” from Jon Weisberger and Jeremy Garrett and features Kati’s stellar fiddle and wonderful lead vocal. Another Weisberger co-authored tune is “Never Miss The Sun” written with Dani Flowers, also featuring Kati’s beautiful lead vocal, along with nice breaks from Ramsey and Cannon. Jr. Williams sings the story of “Evangeline” from Eric Cummins and again leads on the Liverpool tale of Martin Gilmore’s “Laura Lee.” The project contains some darker selections from Tyler Childers, including “Heart Of Stone,” “Long Hard Road,” the spooky “The Harvest,” and Charles Cain’s “Forgotten War.” The band also does a wonderful take on Donna Hughes’ version of the old murder ballad “Naomi Wise.” This is an excellent project from this group. Penn’s fiddle is dead-on, with the others providing great fills and backup throughout. (Mountain Home, P.O.

Box 829, Arden, NC 28704, www.mountainhomemusiccompany.com.)BF