Articles

BALSAM RANGE MOUNTAIN VOODOO Mountain Home MH-1673-CD    The rise of Balsam Range in the bluegrass world has been impressive. They have consistently put out great music and won the big awards. Now, the western North Carolina-based group has released their sixth album Mountain Voodoo and it’s a testament to the band’s talent, approach to music,…

GREENSKY BLUEGRASS SHOUTED, WRITTEN DOWN AND QUOTED Big Blue Zoo No Number Greensky Bluegrass has come a long way out on the edge of the bluegrass music scene. Following in the tradition of newgrass artists such as Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, as well as the Jerry Garcia/David Grisman/Old & In The Way wing of the…

FLASHBACK FOXHOUNDS AND FIDDLES Pinecastle Records PRC 1206 Four of the five musicians on this recording played together in J.D. Crowe’s New South band back in the 1990s. They include guitarist/vocalist Richard Bennett, mandolinist/vocalist Don Rigsby, resonator guitarist Phil Leadbetter, and bassist Curt Chapman. The album they recorded at that time (1994) was called Flashback….

DAILEY & VINCENT PATRIOTS & POETS Dreamlined Entertainment Group BFDO87 Dailey & Vincent’s new 15-song album has a pièce de résistance feel to it. It’s ambitious, soulful, muscular, and infused with melodic and vocal brilliance, along with a delightful stylistic diversity. On Patriots & Poets, this illustrious duo, besides producing, has also taken on a…

BILL CLIFTON: AMERICA’S BLUEGRASS AMBASSADOR TO THE WORLD—BY BILL C. MALONE—Univ. of Illinois Press 9780252082009. Paperback, 184 pp., b&w photos, discography, $19.95. (Univ. of Illinois Press, 1325 S. Oak St., Champaign, IL 61820, press.uillinois.edu.) Bill Clifton’s influence on folk, country, bluegrass, and old-time music is immeasurable. In this new biography, author Bill Malone takes the…

TERRY BAUCOM’S DUKES OF DRIVE 4TH & GOAL John Boy & Billy JBB0517 The night this review CD arrived, Terry Baucom’s Dukes of Drive appeared on the TV show Song Of The Mountains. The contrast was striking. While the performance of Baucom, mandolinist/vocalist Joey Lemons, guitarist/vocalist Will Jones, and bassist Joe Hannabach exhibited a strong…