Articles

ELLEN CARLSON PEOPLE I PLAY WITH No Label CD 3535    Ellen Carlson is a New Hampshire fiddler with a strong grasp on several genres.  Her major influences include Vassar Clements and Pete Southerland.  Hints or more of both of these fiddlers show up in her playing.  She has also absorbed much from other fiddlers she…

JODY STECHER WONDERS & SIGNS Vegetiboy Music TLSFN2 Jody Stecher, that musical wunderkind (in spite of his now-white hair), has finally released an album of all-original songs and tunes. He said he got brave enough to do this when folks started asking him not “Did you write that song?” but “Where did you learn that…

ALAN BIBEY AND WAYNE BENSON THE MANDOLIN CHRONICLES Pinecastle Records PRC 1183 For those who have ever wondered how Alan Bibey and Wayne Benson would approach the same tune, like say Bill Monroe’s “Pilgrim’s Knob” or Tommy Jackson’s “Crazy Creek,” here’s your opportunity to find out. Hearing their styles juxtaposed, particularly on the four mandolin-only…

VARIOUS ARTISTS GOD DIDN’T CHOOSE SIDES: CIVIL WAR TRUE STORIES ABOUT REAL PEOPLE, VOLUME ONE Rural Rhythm RUR-1095 Another Civil War recording? Well, yes. The Civil War continues gripping the imagination of listeners and artists and, in the case of Sam Passamano II, record executives alike. Passamano’s project is a bit different from the rest….

SCOTT BRANNON YOUR OLD STANDBY Patuxent Music PXCD 241 Since his early years, this Martinsburg, W.Va., native has established himself as one of the finest voices in bluegrass music. He grew up listening to his father’s records by Hank Williams and Reno & Smiley and had an opportunity to see the late Charlie Moore. He…

MILL RUN BLUEGRASS BAND GO BUILD MY CHURCH No Label No Number As the opener, “When I Reach That City,” bursts from the speaker, it is quickly apparent that the Mill Run Bluegrass Band has a deep grounding in the traditional bluegrass gospel genre and are pleased as can be to share those roots with…