Articles

TIM CONNELL & ERIC SKYE JUNE APPLE Half-Diminished Records No Number It’s hard to get a handle on exactly what’s at hand upon popping June Apple from Tim Connell and Eric Skye into the CD player. The first thing you notice is an extremely high-quality production that showcases some of the cleanest and richest guitar…

DANNY BARNES STOVE UP Wendell Records WR003 According to the notes in the accompanying booklet, this latest project from Danny Barnes is a tribute to the late Don Stover, a banjo player who was a heavy influence on Barnes. While having never met Stover, Barnes attributes Stover’s 1972 Rounder LP Things In Life as the…

GRANT GORDY AND ROSS MARTIN YEAR OF THE DOG No Label No Number    In the list of flatpicking guitarists who came of age in the post-Tony Rice/Russ Barenberg/David Grier era, Grant Gordy and Ross Martin emerge as two standout musicians. They’ve absorbed bluegrass playing at its deepest roots while also being open to expanding their…

HIGH FIDELITY HI-FI BLUEGRASS No Label No Number    Once in a great while a new band and new recording comes along that captures my attention. This CD instantly propelled me to the 1950s and the music of my idols. It caught me by surprise, but shouldn’t have. I already knew Jeremy Stephens to be a…

BREAKING GRASS WARNING SIGNS Mountain Fever MFR170317 This new project from Breaking Grass (their fourth), features the excellent songwriting of guitarist Cody Farrar. Other members in the band include Tyler White (fiddle), Zach Wooten (mandolin), Britt Sheffield (bass), and Jody Elmore (banjo). Based in Mississippi, they have gone from a local venture to becoming a…

KOREY BRODSKY CRUIZIN’ No Label No Number Korey Brodsky is a talented young flatpicking guitarist and mandolinist from New England who makes a strong debut with his first recording, Cruizin’. The title-track is one of four original compositions included here, and can best be described as a driving fiddle tune. “Dragonfly” and “Catching Grapes” are…