Articles

RARE BIRD ALERT TABLATURE BOOK—BY STEVEN MARTIN & THE STEEP CANYON RANGERS, TRANSCRIBED BY TONY TRISCHKA—Homespun Tapes 9781597733274. $19.95. (Homespun Tapes, P.O. Box 340, Woodstock, NY 12498, www.homespuntapes.com.) I’m convinced that “Steve Martin” is actually an offshore conglomerate where brilliant, kidnapped writers, actors, musicians, and talk-show guests are cloned into “Steve Martins” and sent into…

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…