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BLUE HIGHWAY THE GAME Rounder Records 11661-9170-2    Once in a while, a band manages to stay together for twenty years without working too much, but just enough to keep it together. Blue Highway is that band, and their new release transcends the boundaries of normality into excellence. From the gunshot of the first (title) cut…

FRANK WAKEFIELD, TAYLOR BAKER & FRIENDS Patuxent Music CD-247 Is it the musicians or the tunes? Is it the performances of mandolinists Frank Wakefield and Taylor Baker that make this recording a comfortable listening experience? Or is it the strength of the 12 classic tunes from our collective musical memory? There is no doubt that…

THE LITTLE ROY & LIZZY SHOW POP! GOES THE BANJO Vine Records TMS-7368 What I have appreciated about Little Roy Lewis over the years is not only his wacky sense of humor, but also his enthusiasm about playing the five-string banjo. He has been in the music business a long time, yet along with music…

FLETCHER BRIGHT AND BILL EVANS FINE TIMES AT FLETCHER’S HOUSE: FIDDLE AND BANJO MUSIC FROM LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, TENNESSEE Native and Fine Records 906-10 Fiddler Fletcher Bright, now in his eighties, is a musician fluent in many variations of American roots music. Influenced by the early pioneers of bluegrass, and always game for going back to…

THE CLINTON GREGORY BLUEGRASS BAND ROOTS OF MY RAISING Melody Roundup Music No Number I love the smooth vocals and high tenor leads found in bluegrass music. But, I also love to hear singing that has a little grit and soulfulness. That’s the case with the vocal stylings of Clinton Gregory, which he gets to…

KEN & BRAD KOLODNER SKIPPING ROCKS Fenchurch Music 07 This new and, in their own words, neo-traditional CD from Ken and Brad Kolodner (father and son) is subtitled Original And Traditional Appalachian Old-Time Music. They play a mix of original and traditional tunes on a variety of instruments. For example, the first cut “The Orchard”…