Articles

VALERIE SMITH & LIBERTY PIKE SMALL TOWN HEROE Bell Buckle Records BBR – 400 Two years ago, Valerie Smith teamed up with a group of musicians from the Maryland/DC area to form her new version of Liberty Pike, which now consists of Joe Zauner (banjo, guitar), Lisa Kay Howard (mandolin), Tom Gray (bass), and Wally…

BLUE CANYON BOYS No Label No Number The Blue Canyon Boys have become one of the premier bands to rise out of the Rocky Mountains West. They have toured the U.S., the Far East, and have gathered a fairly large following wherever they perform. The band is Drew Garrett (bass), Jason Hicks (guitar), Gary Dark…

LARRY STEPHENSON BAND WEEP LITTLE WILLOW Whysper Dream Music CD-7427 From the jaunty opening banjo riffs of the up-tempo love lament “Yesterday’s Gone” (penned by C. Stuart and W. Kidd) right on through to the restless refrains of the closing cut—a haunting rendition of Alton Delmore’s “Midnight Train”—the Larry Stephenson Band’s new 12-track collection bristles…

JEREMY GARRETT THE RV SESSIONS 2: INSTRUMENTALS  No Label VSB 110    Many years have passed since an instrumental bluegrass album captivated me as much as The RV Sessions 2: Instrumentals by Infamous Stringdusters fiddler Jeremy Garrett. Maybe Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe or Bela Fleck’s Deviation. Garrett stays within the bluegrass genre while innovating brilliantly…

JENNY WHITELEY THE ORIGINAL JENNY WHITELEY Black Hen Music No Number Jenny Whiteley is an award-winning Canadian singer and songwriter. This collection contains three of her original songs, plus another eight which are a mix of three traditional and five by other writers performed primarily in old-time styles. She opens with Chris Coole’s “100 Dollars”…

VARIOUS ARTISTS MOUNTAINS OF MUSIC HOMECOMING 2015: THE LIVE CONCERT RECORDINGS The Crooked Road TCR002 Perhaps the two hardest recordings to review are live ones (since concerts are about entertaining a live audience rather than making an album) and multiple artist compilations lacking a single artistic vision. Mountains of Music Homecoming 2015: The Live Concert…