Articles

BILLY STRINGS AND DON JULIN FIDDLE TUNE X No Label No Number Ordinarily, recordings with this many standards elicit a general yawn. What saves it is the technical skill level of the performers—Billy Strings on guitar and lead vocals and Don Julin on the mandolin and occasional harmony. What really saves it, lifting it to…

WAYFARING STRANGERS: THE MUSICAL VOYAGE FROM SCOTLAND AND ULSTER TO APPALACHIA BY FIONA RITCHIE AND DOUG ORR UNC Press 9781469618227. Foreword by Dolly Parton, CD included, 384 pp., $39.95. (UNC Press, 116 S. Boundary St., Chapel Hill, NC 27514, uncpress.unc.edu.) This much-anticipated book has, I’m glad to say, lived up to—and surpassed—expectations, and now takes…

AMY GALLATIN & STILLWATERS EVERYTHING I WANTED LOVE TO BE Happy Appy Records HAR-9    Put plainly, Amy Gallatin is a fine and appealing vocalist, with a warmth, incisiveness, and sincerity to engagingly deliver a range of songs. You might hear echoes of singers as great and as varied as Emmylou Harris or Hazel Dickens, but…

RED JUNE ANCIENT DREAMS Organic Records OR15292 With one foot firmly planted in Appalachian tradition and the other stretching to reach new ground, Red June showcases stellar three-part harmonies and incredible instrumental work on this third CD. The previous projects (their debut Remember Me Well and the 2012 release Beauty Will Come) garnered strong attention….

THE SONGWRITER IN ME: SNAPSHOTS OF MY CREATIVE PROCESS BY DONNA ULISSE Hadley Music Group 9780578139661. Paperback, black & white photos, 158 pp. (Hadley Music Group, P.O. Box 290184, Nashville, TN 37229, www.hadleymusicgroup.com.) Donna Ulisse has been nominated for IBMA Songwriter Of The Year three years running. Her songs have been recorded by Del McCoury,…

JOHN MAILANDER WALKING DISTANCE No Label No Number    This young fiddler has surrounded himself with top-flight players capable of highlighting his fine work and exploring all of the avenues his interests have lead him down. In eight tunes, Mailander explores paths bluegrass and old-time paths with a touch of Celtic thrown in for good…