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BACK ROADS MANDOLIN VOLUME TWO BY BUDDY MERRIAM. (Buddy Merriam, P.O. Box 862, Sound Beach, NY 11789, www.buddymerriam.com.) Buddy Merriam is a mandolin player from New York who has over 500 mandolin compositions to his credit. He’s spent 35 years leading his group Buddy Merriam & Back Roads and for 25 years has been the…

DAVE ADKINS Mountain Fever Records MFR 160226 With his third recording for Mountain Fever, Dave Adkins has brought all the musical threads together and produced his finest work to date. I’ve noted that the one area for Adkins needing work was his bluegrass phrasing. His last recording was almost there. This one is. One need…

THE KEVIN PRATER BAND WALKING RAILS & COUNTING TIES No Label No Number With the possible exception of the slightly minor cast of the lost love tune “Joanie” and Kevin Prater’s own tragic romance original “You’re In Love With Another,” the offerings here, sad subject or no, have an upbeat, positive sound that make you…

GRAHAM SPARKMAN HAZARD WAS HERE No Label No Number There is a loose, Americana, old-time quality about this recording from Graham Sparkman. It reminds me of one of the earliest CDs I reviewed for BU, one by Fred Lantz, a recording that similarly blended old-time, bluegrass, and folk in a freewheeling ’60s sort of fashion….

CIRCA BLUE ONCE UPON A TIME Orange Blossom Records No Number Readers of these pages may well be aware, I always gravitate to a swinging, country/jazz type song. There’s a good one here on Circa Blue’s third release—their first on Orange Blossom Records. The song is called “Tripped, Stumbled And Fell,” written by Dawn Kenny…

THE COMPLETE 5-STRING BANJO METHOD: BEGINNING, INTERMEDIATE, MASTERING BY NED LUBERECKI Alfred Music 44932, 44935, 44939. (Alfred Music, P.O. Box 10003, Van Nuys, CA 91410-0003, www.alfred.com.) This three-volume set will take the student from the raw fundamentals to being a knowledgeable player with improvisational skills, if they follow the path set out by the author….