Articles

THE ROYS GYPSY RUNAWAY TRAIN Rural Rhythm RUR-1110 Straight ahead, no-frills lyrics and themes, all of them cloaked in contemporary bluegrass/country style, characterize the six originals on the new recording from The Roys. The steadfastness of the singer’s love in “You Can Count On Me” is as constant as …the Mississippi runs to the ocean…

DELLA MAE THIS WORLD OFT CAN BE Rounder Records 11661-9135-2 Last April, I sat down on a sunny afternoon in front of the main stage at MerleFest and watched Della Mae perform. I had heard bits and pieces of their music over the last couple of years,  on the Telluride Festival webcast and other fare,…

MARTY KUTZ WELCOME ABOARD No Label No Number Marty Kutz has put together a solid, pleasant collection of 12 mostly standard tunes, including a strong gospel component (four cuts) and two original instrumentals. Kutz plays resonator guitar throughout and is ably assisted by Josh Williams (guitar, mandolin), Mike Scott (banjo), Becky Buller, Lizzy Long and…

LeROY MACK STORIES No Label No Number LeRoy Mack, resonator guitarist with the early Country Boys (precursors to the Kentucky Colonels) in Southern California and leader of his own group, the Born Again Bluegrass Band, for 31 years, has released his sixth recording, a very pleasant collection of 11 story songs. Four of these are…

SNYDER FAMILY BAND BUILDING BRIDGES Mountain Roads Recordings MRR-1017 For their fourth release, the Snyder Family Band moves almost completely out of the realm of recording covers or standards. Where their first release in 2008 was largely standards, as would be expected from a trio fronted by two very young musicians, each successive recording has…

MARK NEWTON AND STEVE THOMAS REBORN Pinecastle Records PRC 1185 “Old McDonald,” the opening track to the debut recording from veteran performers Mark Newton and Steve Thomas, is one of those songs that seem so obvious that you scratch your head wondering why it took so long to be written or why you didn’t think…