Articles

FIDDLER’S DREAM: OLD-TIME, SWING, AND BLUEGRASS FIDDLING IN TWENTIETH CENTURY MISSOURI BY HOWARD WIGHT MARSHALL Univ. Of Missouri Press 9780826221216. CD included, 448 pp., 111 photos, $29.95. (Chicago Distribution Ctr., 11030 S. Langley Ave., Chicago, IL 60628, upress.missouri.edu.) This second volume by Marshall on the fiddling in Missouri brings the reader up to the twentieth…

DOUG FLOWERS FAVORITES No Label No Number The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will The Circle Be Unbroken album served as the inspirational concept for Doug Flowers latest CD. Flowers, who has performed with the Little Roy & Lizzy Show and Clinton Gregory, gathered together some of his favorite singers, songwriters, and pickers for a jam…

THE SOWELL FAMILY PICKERS TRUST IN THE LORD No Label No Number As with many family bands, the Sowells are, at their core, a gospel bluegrass band. That does not necessarily mean that all of their material is gospel bluegrass. They follow what seems to be a rising trend in bluegrass, one in which bands…

EDDY RAVEN WITH CAROLINA ROAD ALL GRASSED UP Pinecastle Records PRC 1207 Eddy Raven’s foray into bluegrass can be traced to his appearance on Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road’s bluegrass tribute to country music of the ’70s. He was one of ten or so stars of the period who put their lead voices to bluegrass/country-hybrid…

DICK KIMMEL AND PAMELA LONGTINE FIDDLE AND MANDOLIN Dick Kimmel Music CD 2017-01 You certainly can’t say that Dick Kimmel and Pamela Longtine haven’t diversified the music on their first recording together. With the exception of bluegrass, which gets only a slight nod in that both “Rain And Snow” and “Pretty Little Miss Out In…

FIRESIDE COLLECTIVE LIFE BETWEEN THE LINES No Label No Number Write what you know. Musicians know the road and that’s the stated inspiration behind the 12 original songs on the second album from Fireside Collective. Truth be told, with one or two possible exceptions, it’s hard to hear why these songs couldn’t have been written…