Articles

THE STETSON FAMILY O WINDING RIVER No Label STET003 The Stetson Family is an Australian quintet with a heavily song-focused approach. The lead vocal and songwriting chores are split fairly evenly between guitarist/resonator guitarist Nadine Budge and guitarist John Bartholomeusz (the latter writing in tandem with banjoist Colin Swan). Budge’s songs have more of an…

ALAN JACKSON THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM EMI Records B0019107-02 After 15 years of thinking about it, country superstar Alan Jackson decided to get down to business and record his dream project. “I think you could take a lot of the songs I wrote and recorded on my albums and convert it over to bluegrass, and you…

STEEP CANYON RANGERS TELL THE ONES I LOVE Rounder Records 11661-9168-2 The collective creativity of the Steep Canyon Rangers shows no sign of weakening, but rather, as the 12 originals here reveal, that it’s rapidly broadening and strengthening. For this new release, the band took their ideas to Woodstock, N.Y., specifically to Levon Helm’s legendary…

BLUEGRASS JAMMING ON BANJO (TIPS, TUNES & TECHNIQUES) BY WAYNE ERBSEN. (Native Ground Books & Music, 109 Bell Rd., Asheville, NC 28805, www.nativeground.com.) If anyone knows how to teach banjo, it’s Wayne Erbsen. His list of books and teaching accomplishments is lengthy. His understanding of how to take a complex subject and break it down…

LORRAINE JORDAN AND CAROLINA ROAD Pinecastle Records PRC 1186 The new Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road album opens with one of those tunes that just makes you feel good. The song is a Tom T. and Dixie Hall composition cataloging all the things, that when seen, you know “That’s Kentucky.” Part of the feel-good is,…

BANJOIST DAVID DEESE: BLUEGRASS BOY TO BRIARHOPPER (AN UNFINISHED BIOGRAPHY) BY PAT J. AHRENS Self Published, No Number. (Pat Ahrens, 6708 Vanwood Dr., Columbia, SC 29206, www.patahrens.com) David Deese may not be a household name in many bluegrass households, but he was right there in the thick of it. Winning several prestigious banjo contests early…