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JAMIE HARPER, OLD PAL
JAMIE HARPER OLD PAL Mountain Fever Records MFR150512 Jamie Harper, originally from Mocksville, N.C., is known for his energetic fiddle work with his current bandleader Junior Sisk, along with previous stints with Marty Raybon, Carrie Hassler, and Blue Moon Rising. Rather than an all-instrumental album of fiddle tunes, Harper chose a band approach. He shares…
GOLD HEART, PLACES I’VE BEEN
GOLD HEART PLACES I’VE BEEN Mountain Fever Records MFR150159 The young women of Gold Heart, Jocey (Jocelyn), Tori, and Shelby Gold, are sounding better than ever on their new release, which celebrates their tenth year as a band. Mountain Heart’s Josh Shilling, reso-guitar master Rob Ickes, and album producer Ron Stewart guest, but the shining…
FY5, EAT THE MOON
FY5 EAT THE MOON Swingfingers Records SF 003 Harder and harder it becomes to pin down a genre in which some bands belong. FY5 is one such band. The opening track, “She Wants To Eat The Moon,” starts with lightly strummed guitar and pensive Joni Mitchell/Judy Collins qualities. That gives way to a building rhythm,…
RESCUE JUNCTION, ECHOES
RESCUE JUNCTION ECHOES Revelation Sound rs2015r/06 Many of us have stacks of albums that contain one or two sacred songs along with a dozen secular pieces. That has been almost standard operating procedure in bluegrass for many years. Ontario’s Rescue Junction turns that convention inside out on their third album. The engaging release adds a…
THE TENNESSEE MAFIA JUG BAND
THE TENNESSEE MAFIA JUG BAND LESTER’S LOAFIN’ LOUNGE No Label No Number As with the Red Clay Ramblers and Austin Lounge Lizards before them, it’s sometimes hard to know how seriously the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band wants their music taken. What are we to make of the outfits, the instrumentation, the song selection, and the…
TROY BOONE, FIRST IMPRESSIONS
BOONE FIRST IMPRESSIONS No Label No Number Troy Boone’s debut recording fails to mention who played the backing parts, only cryptically mentioning in the press notes that they were friends and fellow musicians from within the East Tennessee State University bluegrass program that he attended. That’s a shame. They and Boone and particularly the banjo…