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PLAY LIKE A LEGEND: BILL MONROE TUNES & SONGS FOR MANDOLIN—BY JOE CARR.—Mel Bay 978-078668358-1. CD included, 80 pp., $29.99. (Mel Bay Publications, 4 Industrial Dr., Pacific, MO 63069, www.melbay.com.) This is the mandolin book I’ve been waiting for. I’m a very mediocre mandolin player, but I’ve told myself for years that I should learn…

MEL BAY’S SCHOOL OF BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN—BY JOE CARR—Mel Bay 9780786681600. CD included, 32 pp., $14.99. (Mel Bay, 4 Industrial Dr., Pacific, MO 63069, www.melbay.com.) As part of its School Of Mandolin series, which includes instructional books on blues, classics and Italian mandolin, Mel Bay Publications has released the bluegrass book in the series, written by…

THE SPINNEY BROTHERS MEMORIES Mountain Fever Records MFR120313 There are many great bands from beyond America’s borders playing wonderful bluegrass; so many that it now seems a bit old-fashioned (not to mention very condescending) to even mention their origins. But just for purposes of orientation, we’ll note that the talented Spinney Brothers (Allan, guitar and…

LONESOME RIVER BAND CHRONOLOGY VOLUME 1 Rural Rhythm RUR-1101 Rural Rhythm is marking the Lonesome River Band’s thirtieth anniversary with a trio of “short form” projects reprising the band’s more popular tunes, with Volume 1 marking the period from the release of their debut album in 1982 to the Carrying The Tradition CD which introduced…

LEANNE THOROSE BLUESTACK MOUNTAIN GIRL Lara Natural Music LNM008 Thorose is an engaging singer and accomplished mandolin player. She also plays fiddle on an original waltz. She can deliver the most insipid lyric with conviction. On track eight we get “Keep My Head Above Water,” the first really strong lyric to go with the music…

FREEMAN AND WILLIAMS Mountain Roads Recordings MRR-1014 Three veterans of the traditional bluegrass circuit comprise this new configuration and each of them, Johnny and Jeanette Williams and Scott Freeman, takes a turn at the lead vocals. As might be expected, Jeanette dominates the singing, handling seven of the thirteen tracks. She’s at her best on…