Articles

BLUETOWN SUMMERS GONE Atlantis Studios AS CDA 0003 Leading off with solid, but unremarkable versions of “My Rose Of Old Kentucky” and “On The Sea Of Life” does little for a band other than prove they are pretty good, yet not Bill Monroe or Doyle Lawson. Many listeners may tune out by then, already confused…

CAROLINA ROAD BACK TO MY ROOTS Rural Rhythm RUR-1088 By the third song of Carolina Road’s vibrant new recording, their point is made. All three songs, “Back To My Roots,” “A Light In The Window,” and “The Hills Of Home,” carry the same message of leaving home, finding life difficult or inhospitable, and then returning…

CHRIS THILE & MICHAEL DAVES SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN Nonesuch Records 527603-2 Chris Thile and guitarist Michael Daves bring it all back home with Sleep With One Eye Open, a collection of fine brother-style duets and instrumentals. No frills—just great guitar and mandolin playing supporting two well-matched voices. Although widely and deservedly renowned for…

CROWE BROTHERS BRIDGING THE GAP Rural Rhythm RUR-1087 The Crowe Brothers plow all the way to the fence on this project. They are probably the best brother unit out there today. With able help from Steve Sutton on banjo, Brian Blaylock on mandolin and guitar, Steve Thomas on fiddle and mandolin, and Randy Kohrs on…

C.W. MUNDY ROAD TRIP: CROSSING BORDERS Moon Surf Records No Number Banjoist C.W. Mundy crosses a lot of borders on his recording Road Trip: Crossing Borders. However, it’s not obvious that all of them needed to be crossed at one time. In spite of a lot of great musicianship on display, the whole of the…

DAN CRARY & THUNDERATION PERFECT STORM Blue Night Records BNR-222 Back in the 1960s and ’70s, several amazing acoustic flattop steel string guitar players burst like a clap of thunder on the folk and bluegrass scenes. Between the fiddle tune and rockabilly lightning of Doc Watson and the jazzy pyrotechnics of Tony Rice was—and is—the…