Articles

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…

MARY KETTERING NO RELATION No Label No Number Mary Kettering is currently the fiddler with Northwest Territory, a longstanding bluegrass band from Ohio. Here she plays with some former bandmates and favorite musicians. The project opens with a version of “Amazing Grace” complete with vocals and closes with an instrumental version of the same song….

THE SWEET LOWDOWN MAY No Label SLD2012 The Sweet Lowdown is comprised of three very talented women who reside on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Featuring fiddle, banjo, guitar, and three lovely singing voices with a seamless harmony, they easily inhabit a shifting musical landscape where bluegrass, old-time, folk, and Celtic music all feel like…

HAMMER DOWN THE STEELDRIVERS Rounder Records 11661-9122-2 More than likely, the past year or so has been both gratifying and trying for the SteelDrivers, a critically acclaimed bluegrass band comprised of five celebrated former Nashville and Muscle Shoals session players: Tammy Rogers, Mike Fleming, Richard Bailey, Brent Truitt, and Gary Nichols. The band’s first two…

CHRIS BRASHEAR HEART OF THE COUNTRY Hearth Music No Number With a voice both plaintive and lyrical, and with a keen ear for language, Chris Brashear continues to be one of the finest writers and exponents of the sentimental song. That fact was certainly front and center on his 1998 solo CD Wanderlust (highlighted by…