Tim Davis and Matt Hiser – Flying High

TIM DAVIS AND MATT HISER
FLYING HIGH

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Flying High is a nice collection of mostly traditional, mostly well-known instrumental tunes.
Tim Davis (banjo) and Matt Hiser (mandolin) are joined by Jonathan Campbell on bass, while Kris Davis and Jonathan Buckner share the guitar duties. Davis and Hiser are also joined by superpickers Wyatt Rice on guitar and Ron Stewart on fiddle. Stewart also produced the recording and the sound quality shows his fine hand

Only the title track is original and, quite frankly, all of the other songs will be familiar to even the most casual bluegrass fan. Davis and Hiser are fine pickers, though, and do justice to the tunes—from warhorses like “Groundspeed,” “John Henry,” “Pike County Breakdown,” “Sally Ann,” and “Salt Creek” to more modern, but still widely-known showpieces like Tony Rice’s “Manzanita” and David Grisman’s near-standard “E.M.D.” All come off nicely, if lacking some of the punch of the originals.

Ron Stewart’s fiddle work absolutely shines through and shows off his always powerful and tasteful approach. The overall result is a pleasing and nicely done collection. (myspace.com/matthewhiser) AWIII