TINA ADAIR BAND, BORN BAD

TINA ADAIR BAND
BORN BAD

TAB Music Group
No Number

Yep, this is going to be one of those “I get many bluegrass CDs across my desk, but few stand out like this one” reviews. After family tragedy and time spent in higher education, Tina Adair is back and sounding better than ever. She made some waves in the bluegrass scene years ago, but dropped out due to the above reasons.

The cool thing about this album, however, is that I listened to it before I looked into the back story, and the wonderful music found here hit me of its own sonic accord. There are a lot of bands releasing albums right now and some are great, others not so good. But then there is that middle ground where every song sounds the same and is on the slick side. Here, on the Tina Adair Band’s Born Bad album, the music is fresh from the first note. This is a band and singer who is out to make traditional bluegrass music their way, with confidence and good attitude, as opposed to just adding to the cookie cutter bluegrass mainstream. The instrumentation and solos have the stank on them. But, to be sure, if you have not heard Adair sing in a long time, or have never heard her sing before, you are in for a treat. All who have visions of being hailed as the next great bluegrass vocalist may have to take a step back now.

The highlights on here include “How I Was Raised,” “Stuck Somewhere In The Middle,” the instrumental “Snaker Dan,” the title cut and much more. Adair plays mandolin, Sim Daley picks the banjo, and Tim Dishman plays guitar and bass. Guests include Billy Dean, Kenny Lewis, Brandon Godman, Randy Kohrs, and Sarah Davison. (Tina Adair Band, P.O. Box 187, Joelton, TN 37080, www.tinaadairband.com.)DH