Articles

FLATT LONESOME RUNAWAY TRAIN Mountain Home MH16252 This is a near textbook example of what a top-rate recording from a top-rate band should be. Everyone involved, from the producers to the label to the bandmembers themselves, should be pleased with the results, and that should translate to even greater recognition for Flatt Lonesome. As most…

THE MUSIC OF WOODY GUTHRIE ARRANGED FOR FINGERSTYLE GUITAR BY FRED SOKOLOW—Stefan Grossman Guitar Workshop GW511. DVD, 101 min., $29.95. (Stefan Grossman Guitar Workshop, P.O. Box 802, Sparta, NJ 07871, www.guitarvideos.com.) While this DVD lies outside the domain of traditional bluegrass, it’s nonetheless a valuable lesson both in the songs of Woody Guthrie and in…

BLUEGRASS IN BALTIMORE: THE HARD DRIVIN’ SOUND AND ITS LEGACY BY TIM NEWBY—McFarland 9780786494392. Softcover, b&w photos, 244 pp. (McFarland & Co., Inc., P.O. Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640, www.mcfarlandbooks.com.) Baltimore is not one of the first cities that comes to mind when you think about bluegrass. Yet, as Tim Newby’s Bluegrass in Baltimore reveals,…

SCOTT TACKETT LOOKING BACK Kindred Records KR15004 It’s surprising this terrific album apparently sat on the shelf for some four years, and there might be a double meaning to its name. The title song, “Looking Back,” is a great rowdy-life-to-prison-cell bluegrass burner, but singer/guitarist Scott Tackett also may have been looking back to the great…

OLD MAN LUEDECKE DOMESTIC ECCENTRIC True North Records TND605 Old Man Luedecke creates an aura of mystery by never mentioning his full name anywhere on this CD or in the liner notes, but a web search quickly finds that his name is Chris Luedecke and that he’s a singer/songwriter who lives in a cabin in…

THE STETSON FAMILY TRUE NORTH No Label STET-004 The Stetson Family, out of Melbourne, Australia, is not a family band, except in spirit and the broader meaning of the word. Blood or no, however, they are a good band making good music. This is their second recording. The members of the band include lead vocalist/guitarist…