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Take Me Back
Carolina Blue Billy Blue Records BBR-1654 Carolina Blue is an overnight success 13 years in the making. This traditional bluegrass band has been around awhile and made some noise with their previous album, I Hear the Bluegrass Calling Me, but their newest release puts them among the strongest in the genre. The dedication on Take…
Poa
Matt Dudman Pleasant Valley Music PVR-006 In the liner notes to his debut album, Matt Dudman, an outstanding mandolin player, singer and songwriter, describes its contents simply as, “some of my favorite rare songs done in the style I like best.” That style is old-timey bluegrass and gospel, done in the tradition of greats like…
Banjo Player’s Blue
High Fidelity Rebel Records REB-CD-1874 High Fidelity might be a fresh-faced looking group of young pickers and singers, but make no mistake — their sound is vintage bluegrass. Banjo Player’s Blues, their third album, hits the mark with band’s title track hit, an old tune by Charlie Monroe. A close ear will note one variation:…
The Light We Bring
Trout Steak Revival Since a bunch of hippies first got together in 1974 and started the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Colorado had proved to be a fertile breeding ground for progressive-bluegrass bands. A multitude of forward thinking-groups including Hot Rize, Leftover Salmon, Yonder Mountain String Band, Elephant Revival, and countless others emerged from the Rocky Mountains. …
Tony Rice: East Meets West
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine October 1977. Volume 12, Number 4 It was a hot September evening in Louisville, Kentucky seven years ago when I first met a skinny teenage guitar player named Tony Rice. He had just landed his first job with a full-time bluegrass band and was obviously totally immersed in music. Tony’s…
Back to Cuttin’ Grass
Although it’s taken him five albums to put out a project with the bluegrass arrangements to match, this is exactly what Sturgill Simpson has done on Cuttin’ Grass – Vol.1 and 2 (The Butcher Shoppe Sessions). Bluegrass music has long been a part of Simpson’s upbringing—something he credits to his paternal grandfather. However, it took…