Articles

THE ORIGINAL FIVE ACROSS THE DEEP BLUE SEA Rootsy 118    Sweden’s The Original Five returns with an energetic, melodic, and enjoyable follow-up to last year’s debut. Bubbling up through the 14 song cauldron of styles, one hears traditional and contemporary bluegrass, of course, but also ’60s and ’70s folk, Beatles-era pop, West Coast bluegrass,…

STEVE HARRIS SUNDOWN Orange Blossom Records No Number Steve Harris is the founding member of Circa Blue, and this is his first solo outing. This is an all-gospel project where Steve (a preacher’s son) has produced a selection of his favorites which were chosen for “the personal sentiment they hold for me,” Steve handles the…

ZOE & CLOYD (NATALYA ZOE WEINSTEIN & JOHN CLOYD MILLER) EQUINOX Z&C Records ZC01 This intriguing duo recording, with packaging reminiscent of an early Folkways recording, comes from a young couple from Asheville, N.C. They manage to capture that label’s vibe by conveying the haunting simplicity of the music they love, playing straightforward and sincere…

BLUESTONE WHAT GOES ON Patuxent Music CD-272    Now and then, a band will release a new project that really makes me sit up and take notice; this is one of those occasions. Bluestone has been around for about twenty years and, to my knowledge, has three previous releases. They are now recording for Tom Mindte’s…

JOSHUA PALMER MET-A-COG-NI-TION Patuxent Music CD-269 Joshua Palmer is a very talented young man from Owl’s Hollow, Alabama and has developed an interesting, fluid, and clean mandolin style. On this mostly original project, Palmer exhibits some great songwriting and arranging, but he also expresses a sensitive vocal style. He’s joined on this project by Andy…

DELTA REIGN NOTHING BUT SKY Travianna Records TR150407 This is easy listening bluegrass. The band simmers along with some sweet songs delivered in an unhurried style featuring Belinda Murphy’s vocals. On the fourth cut, they go up-tempo and drive into “Nothing But Sky,” a very catchy song. They dig in and get to the old…