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GROWLING OLD MEN CHICKEN FEED & BALING TWINE Snake River SRR-125    It’s funny—in a very good way—that this amiable duo should call themselves Growling Old Men. But that’s the name Ben Winship and John Lowell have taken. It’s certainly a nod to the beloved old-time tune “Growling Old Man, Grumbling Old Woman,” and it’s wonderfully…

JAKE LANDERS & HERSCHEL SIZEMORE FOR OLD TIMES SAKE B Sharp Records 2013-1 For Old Times Sake brings together Jake Landers and Herschel Sizemore, childhood friends and former Dixie Gentlemen bandmates. Each has established sterling careers in bluegrass music as sidemen for the first generation greats and/or composers of some of the genre’s more memorable…

RALPH STANLEY & RALPH STANLEY II SIDE BY SIDE Rebel Records CD-1850 It’s somewhat surprising to learn from the accompanying press material that this is the first time Ralph Stanley and his son and former bandmate in the Clinch Mountain Boys, Ralph Stanley II, have ever shared equal billing on an album-length project. That said,…

THE EASY RAMBLERS COUNTRY LIVIN’ No Label No number The Easy Ramblers are a trio based in Syracuse, N.Y., and Country Livin’ is their second release. Most of their songs are written by guitarist Eddie Zacholl and sung by mandolinist Maureen Henesey, with bassist Dann Mather rounding out the band. Their promo material hints at…

STEVE MARTIN AND THE STEEP CANYON RANGERS FEATURING EDIE BRICKELL LIVE Rounder Records 116618846 Put this halfway between a twofer and a onefer. You do get two discs (a CD and a DVD), but they’re both of the same show, so call it a one-and-a-halfer. Actually, it’s a little more complicated than that. The DVD…

INVENTING THE AMERICAN GUITAR: THE PRE-CIVIL WAR INNOVATIONS OF C.F. MARTIN AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES EDITED BY ROBERT SHAW AND PETER SZEGO Hal Leonard 9781458405760. Hardcover, 310 pp., $50. (Hal Leonard, P.O. Box 13819, Milwaukee, WI 53213, www.halleonard.com.) If you love old guitars, you’d better clear some space on your coffee table, because you’ll want this…