“Susanville” by The Dixie Bee-Liners

The Dixie Bee-Liners
Susanville
Pinecastle Records
4 stars (out of 5)

Susanville is a grand recording, a concept album within a field where such is uncommon.

Its premise is one each of us has likely considered while staring through the windshield at the black ribbon: what are the stories of the faces we see sharing our road? The Dixie Bee-Liners—primarily Brandi Hart, Buddy Woodward, and Rachel Renee Johnson with a talented slate of supporters—delve into the idea that “every car on the highway has a story;” Susanville is their attempt to capture these in a loose narrative.

A dramatic bluegrass and Americana band, The Dixie Bee-Liners’ second album (an eight-song EP was the band’s introduction in 2006) is a departure from their previous Pinecastle album, 2008’s Ripe. The band has pulled back a bit from typical bluegrass trappings, successfully aiming toward an “acoustiblue” recipe that is more in keeping with that of Robinella or The Everybodyfields. This disc appears to be a continuation of select stories captured on Ripe; “Down on the Crooked Road” and “Lost in the Silence” would nicely complement these tales.

The band begins their two-thousand mile journey across the United States with a Steve Earle-inspired mando lick kicking off “Heavy.” This song allows Hart to introduce the first of her several voices; the youthful adventurer of this song is a very different character from the road-weary highway veteran following a “string of rubies trailed in the dust” in “Brake Lights.” Woodward takes a few lead vocals, most passionately on “Down” and when revealing the grim desperation of “Truck Stop Baby.”

Naturally, Susanville works best when as a continuous listen, when one can absorb the emotions and experiences that connect the various travelers. The dozen songs are bridged by instrumental snippets and GPS directions linking the loose narrative. Guest vocalist (and 1965 Academy of Country Music Top New Female Vocalist) Kay Adams gets the juiciest song, the lively “Trixie’s Diesel-Stop Café”; singing of her ‘Tiger Puddin’’, one discovers that Ms. Adams’ (best known for “Little Pink Mack”) might still make a trucker blush. Her voice remains distinctively sassy.

Nonetheless, most of the songs stand on their own. A lone extended instrumental entitled “Albion Road” holds the listener’s attention with intriguing flatpicking and mandolin. “Lead Foot” brings Simon & Garfunkel sweetness in the harmony while Sam Morrow’s banjo runs through. Other songs such as “(I Need) Eighteen Wheels,” “Find Out” and the title track could develop into radio favorites.

Susanville is a quality project, one whose very ambitions may out-strip its commerciality. Those who take the time to experience the disc will find lovely vocals, spirited and challenging instrumentation, and perhaps a perspective on those we pass within the bustle of our lives.

by Donald Teplyske

“Deep in the Shade” by the Steep Canyon Rangers

Steep Canyon Rangers
Deep In The Shade
Rebel Records
4.5 stars (out of 5)

While the bluegrass world is chock-a-block with exciting, young contemporary outfits, no other excites and impresses in the manner of the Steep Canyon Rangers.

The Rangers are on a roll. While they didn’t appear on Steve Martin’s popular and impressive The Crow last year, they gained considerable exposure appearing with the arrow-headed one at several high-profile gigs last fall: Hardly Strictly, Letterman, and Carnegie Hall. That explosive momentum is maintained by the dozen tracks comprising Deep In The Shade.

Having previously released four albums, each stronger and more distinctive than its predecessor, the Steep Canyon Rangers have the experience and chops to continue this unbroken string. Again working with producer Ronnie Bowman, the band hasn’t significantly altered their approach or sound. And while on some bands this may appear stagnant or limited, with the Rangers the impression is of consistency and capability.

Woody Platt’s voice is one of the group’s strongest features. It is south of high lonesome, inhabiting the mountainside between old-time and country, similar to Leigh Gibson (The Gibson Brothers). His voice is smooth and controlled, yet peppered with flavor that encourages one to return for additional helpings.

As always, the band is a cohesive unit, each part contributing to the high quality presentation. I’ve written previously of the interplay between Nicky Sanders’ fiddling and Graham Sharp’s banjo, and this impressive element remains apparent, especially on a track such as “I Thought That She Loved Me.” One day, and hopefully soon, the blistering mandolin talent of Mike Guggino will be recognized by those who vote on such things within the professional bluegrass community. Like all good bass players do, Charles Humphrey III keeps things between the lines while laying down a solid foundation on which the others build.

The songs, all but two band-written, are exceptional. Well-balanced between reflective lopers and the lively sounds most generally associated with bluegrass, there doesn’t appear to be an after-thought amongst the tracks. From the failed infidelity of the radio friendly “Have Mercy” to the Asheville-bound romp that is “Turn Up the Bottle,” the Rangers cover territory expected of quality bluegrass bands.

But they also gently push boundaries. Their four-part a capella treatment of the blues-standard “Sylvie” is spellbinding. The neo-folkiness of “The Mountain’s Gonna Sing” is like few other songs recently encountered:

Beneath the laurels, pearls of rain,
fall and shatter and sink into the clay.
Wash away these hills, wash away the dawn,
somehow there’s still the strength to carry on.
The spirit ever lingers in a song,
and the mountain’s gonna sing this song for me…
and rock me off to sleep.

As they did on 2007’s Lovin’ Pretty Women, the Steep Canyon Rangers again demonstrate that a band can be musically innovative while reaching into the past. Like other younger bands, Steep Canyon Rangers straddle the blurred edges of traditional and progressive bluegrass; that they do so as successfully as they do is a testament to their continued and expanding appeal.

Like I did while listening to Deep In the Shade over and over, I think you’ll find yourself exclaiming, “Damn, that’s good!”

by Donald Teplyske

“Some Day: The Fifteenth Anniversary Collection” by Blue Highway

Blue Highway
Some Day: The Fifteenth Anniversary Collection
Rounder Records
3.5 stars (out of 5)

Let me start by saying that I’m well aware that no one and nothing can compare to The Band in any substantive way, but you’ll indulge me here so I can describe one of the best bluegrass music units of the last couple of of decades.

I’ve always thought of Blue Highway as being the bluegrass version of The Band, with three compelling lead vocalists—Wayne Taylor (bass), Shawn Lane (mandolin, fiddle) and Tim Stafford (guitar)—corresponding to Levon Helm, Richard Manuel and Rick Danko of The Band, with Jason Burleson (banjo) and Rob Ickes (resonator guitar) mirroring organist Garth Hudson and guitarist Robbie Robertson.

Also, Blue Highway’s music, like The Band’s, has the felicitous effect of being influenced by countless sources while sounding unlike anything else. I won’t stretch the comparison further, but you get the idea: Blue Highway is versatile, skilled and their whole is noticeably greater than the sum of its highly talented parts.

This collection does a fairly good job of presenting the band at their best, even though the collection, despite the subtitle, only reaches back to Still Climbing Mountains, their 2001 debut on Rounder Records. (To get a full and proper appreciation of the band, you simply have to go back to their first four albums: It’s a Long, Long Road (1995), Wind to the West (1996) and Midnight Storm (1998) on Rebel Records and Blue Highway (1999) on Ceili Records.)

That Rounder debut is well-represented by Lane’s lead vocals on the soaring title track, the apocalyptic “The Seventh Angel,” which features Alison Krauss on backing vocal and “Monrobro,” in which Ickes captures the essence of Bill Monroe’s sound on an instrument that the Father apparently described as “no part of nothin’.”

Ickes’ amazing talent is also spotlighted on “Elzic’s Farewell,” a tradition fiddle tune adapted for his 2004 solo album Big Time, on which he was backed by the rest of Blue Highway.

“Wondrous Love” and “Seven Sundays in a Row” come from the group’s all-gospel Wondrous Love (2003) and are two of the best gospel tracks recorded by anyone in bluegrass music over the last few years, the former featuring a sweeping emotion of praise, the latter a simple description of faith in action. Both benefit from striking lead vocals from Taylor, the best singer of the three lead vocalists, if you had to pick one.

Stafford’s lone lead vocal on this collection—one of its few flaws—is the propulsive Mark Knopfler tune “Marbletown” from the 2005 album of the same name, while Lane’s “Wild Urge to Ramble” from the same disc is also included.

Written by Stafford and Steve Gulley, “Through the Window of a Train” is a near-perfect song sung by Taylor and taken from the 2008 album of the same name. “Sycamore Hollow” is also from that disc, but should have been left off this one, as Lane’s vocals are ill-matched for a lower register, resulting in perhaps the only Blue Highway track I know of that I always skip when it comes on.

“Cold and Lowdown Lonesome Blues,” however, has Lane back on top of his game and is one of the three tracks newly recorded for this project that truly belong in the Blue Highway canon. Second is “Bleeding for a Little Peace of Mind,” cowritten by Stafford and singer-songwriter Darrell Scott and featuring Scott on inimitable lead vocals and playing the part of Bob Dylan to Blue Highway’s The Band, if I can stretch that analogy one more time.

“Some Day” is a re-recording of the a cappella gospel hit from Midnight Storm, which, even in its new form, still sends chills up the spine and reminds you that Blue Highway is truly worthy of this compilation, as well as others that will no doubt follow after whatever else the band has in store for the next fifteen years.

by Aaron Keith Harris

“Shadow on the Ground” by James Hand

James Hand
Shadow on the Ground
Rounder Records
4 stars (out of 5)

James Hand’s 2006 Rounder release The Truth Will Set You Free was truly exhilarating. Amid a swirl of fiddles and steel guitar, there was that voice, sounding like a long-lost compadre of Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell newly released from the amber in which it had been encased for half a century.

In truth, Hand, now in his late fifties, had been plying his trade in the honky-tonks of West Texas since the 1970s, gathering fans like Ray Price, Willie Nelson, Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel) and Lloyd Maines.

Benson and Maines produce Shadow on the Ground, Hand’s second Rounder release on which he writes 11 of 12 tracks on a disc clocking in at more than 38 minutes.

“Don’t Want Me Too” kicks things off with a guitar lick lifted from the blues standard “Good Morning Little School Girl” before shifting into a country swinger that shows Hand is every bit as expressive and entertaining as he was on his last recorded effort, especially when he whines out the repeated “why, why, why?” of the chorus.

Next is a shuffling version of the Nat King Cole standard “Mona Lisa,” complete with cascading electric and steel guitar parts framing Hand’s not-quite-urbane delivery.

“Just a Heart” and “Floor to Crawl” are two heart-stoppers in which Hand’s songwriting compares favorably with that of Hank Sr. and Ernest Tubb. Unfortunately, they are separated by “The Parakeet,” a rockabilly-leaning novelty song that just isn’t cute enough to work.

“What Little I Got Left” and “The Pain of Loving You” sound like George Jones outtakes from the 1970s, which isn’t bad, but it’s not in Hand’s vocal wheelhouse like “Ain’t A Goin’,” a rollicking musical autobiography and mission statement.

Likewise the narrators of “Midnight Run” (“whiskey-drunk and under the gun”) and “Don’t Depend on Me” (“one who always drinks, seldom thinks and never gives a damn”) allow for a more emotive Hand than the post-outlaw sound of “Leavin’ for Good,” which finds Hand holding back just a bit.

“Men Like Me Can Fly” could pass for one of Hank Williams’ good-natured gospel songs, and it’s a fine close to an album, though not as arresting a listen as its predecessor, that is as good a country release as you can expect to hear these days.

by Aaron Keith Harris

“Heartache & Stone” by Monroe Crossing

Monroe Crossing
Heartache & Stone
self-released
3.5 stars (out of 5)

Minnesota’s Monroe Crossing have been actively promoting their interpretation of classic bluegrass sounds tempered with folk and pop sensibilities for more than a decade, and have released a number of fine songs and listenable albums. Heartache & Stone, their ninth album, brings to fruition their ongoing efforts and serves as a more substantial calling card than their previous releases.

While banjo players have come and gone, the group has been long centered about the twin powers of Art Blackburn (guitar and vocals) and Lisa Fuglie (fiddle and vocals). This formidable pair continues to be ably complemented by mandolinist Matt Thompson and bassist Mark Anderson. Benji Flaming remains on five-string, duplicating the lineup featured on Live from Silver Dollar City a couple of years back.

What has changed? Perhaps I’m the only one to sense it, but it seems like the band is no longer trying too hard. It is as if they have grown into themselves and accepted not only any limitations they may have — and if these exist, they are not apparent from listening — and embraced their attributes. It is as if they have become more comfortable within their skin.

The songwriting seems stronger, too. While the band has always explored unlikely sources for material — Etta James’ “At Last,” Smokey Robinson’s “My Girl,” and Willie Nelson/Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” — on previous discs, this time the selections seem less forced. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “4 + 20” is interpreted minimally, with Art Blackburn handling the lead singing and some delicate picking; as stated in the liner notes, the rest of the band “mostly just stays out of the way.” Without exaggeration, the song sounds brighter, livelier, and perhaps better within this interpretation than it does on Déjà Vu.

A number of Minnesotan songwriters have their material included. The standout may be Becky Buller’s contribution “Raven Tresses,” a languid, atmospheric piece sung hauntingly by Blackburn. Fuglie’s harmony adds depth to the circumstances, while Flaming’s banjo notes create sparseness within darkness.

Another notable song is the title track, a Blackburn original featuring the lyric, “The road to happiness is paved with heartache and stone.” In what could have ended ugly, a reimaging of Prince’s “Purple Rain” is delivered without mockery or flamboyance; the lyrics are entirely appropriate to the genre and the adjustments made to the melody and instrumentation are bang on. Who knew there was a bluegrass song in there?

Being from the northern Midwest, it is pleasant that the band embraces their state’s history for touchstones. In the case of “Me & Billy” a roundabout repeats Minnesota history by attempting to out-do the James Gang’s exploits, only to be brought to justice by a childhood friend.

The instrumentation and vocals are superior to much one encounters on “regional” releases. On up-tempo pieces such as “Patience” and “Mississippi Stringer,” as well as on less lively songs (the evocative “Potter’s Field,” for example) the musicians demonstrate their instrumental agility. Blackburn and Fuglie slip out of the lead vocal positions into harmony with Thompson effortlessly, creating an appealing blend. There is any number of reasons the band has remained popular within their circuit for such an extended period of time.

Monroe Crossing has long had an identifiable logo, and the band’s trademark sign is as fine a piece of bluegrass memorabilia as exists. Musically, everything has come together for the quintet on Heartache & Stone, and it stands as their most accomplished album to date.

by Donald Teplyske

Aaron’s favorite 20 CDs of 2009

1. Van Morrison Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl (Listen to the Lion)

2. Levon Helm Electric Dirt (Vanguard)

3. U2 No Line on the Horizon (Interscope)

4. The Del McCoury Band Family Circle (McCoury Music)

5. The Swell Season Strict Joy (Anti)

6. Dailey & Vincent Brothers from Different Mothers (Rounder)

7. Imogen Heap Ellipse (RCA)

8. The Black Crowes Before the Frost (Silver Angel/Angelus)

9. The Avett Brothers I and Love and You (American)

10. Steve Martin The Crow (Rounder)

11. David Gray Draw the Line (Mercer Street)

12. Lyle Lovett Natural Forces (Lost Highway)

13. Bebel Gilberto All in One (Verve)

14. Alejandro Escovedo Real Animal (Back Porch)

15. Neko Case Middle Cyclone (Anti)

16. The Felice Brothers Yonder is the Clock (Team Love)

17. Ben Harper & Relentless7 White Lies for Dark Times (Virgin)

18. Ricky Skaggs Solo: Songs My Dad Loved (Skaggs Family)

19. Dave Rawlings Machine A Friend of a Friend (Acony)

20. Bob Dylan Together Through Life (Columbia)

“Family Circle” by the Del McCoury Band

Del McCoury Band
Family Circle
McCoury Music
5 stars (out of 5)

It’s nicely fitting that Family Circle is the title of the Del McCoury Band’s best, most passionate effort since 1999’s The Family. The same year that classic was released, the band also collaborated with Steve Earle on the classic The Mountain, and was poised to lead the bluegrass popular renaissance spurred by the film and soundtrack, O Brother, Where Art Thou? Both before and since then, the DMB has represented themselves and their genre with class, especially on their legendary live shows, but their recorded output has occasionally suffered slightly from a lack of focus.

That’s certainly not a problem here, with Del’s peerless tenor lead showcased on each of 14 tracks over 45 exhilarating minutes of music, a bounty that makes up for the band’s enjoyable but ill-packaged boxed set release earlier this year.

The groove of “Sweet Appalachia” sets the tone with Rob McCoury’s banjo underpinning perfect harmonies on lyrics that remind everyone just where the spirit behind the DMB’s music comes from. A cover of the New Riders of the Purple Sage’s “Barbaric Splendor” comes next. It’s an effort that, among bluegrassers, only Del could pull off. References to “angel of the alleyways” and “leather and lace” from a tough and tender narrator would sound awkward or contrived from most, but the straight-laced Del somehow pulls it off.

“Revenuer’s Blues,” co-written by Ronnie Bowman and Ronnie McCoury (mandolin, harmony vocals), simmers throughout, with Del’s voice as smoky and smooth as the product he’s singing about. “Hello Lonely” is a new song that sounds like a classic bluegrass number, featuring precise interplay between Rob’s banjo and Jason Carter’s electrifying fiddle. It gives way to “Delma Blue,” a lonely waltz that’s right in Del’s wheelhouse.

“I’m Justified” is a joyous four-part harmony gospel celebration of salvation that ranks with anything done by Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver or Dailey & Vincent in recent years, proving that the DMB is as versatile as they are virtuosic. “Bad Day for Love” is back in more familiar DMB territory, a bluesy barnburner that’s sure to find wings on the live stage.

The Johnny Mercer-penned “I Remember You” is another curveball, one that has Del’s semi-yodel neatly matched to the sentimentality of a 1940s movie song. As gentle as Del is on that track, he’s positively menacing on Buddy & Julie MIller’s “Does My Ring Burn Your Finger,” complete with wicked laugh.

The Alaska ballad “White Pass Railroad” and Mark Knopfler’s “Prairie Wedding,” which is markedly better than the original, make for a nice Western interlude and make one wish that Del’s voice could have found its way onto the soundtrack for Deadwood.

“Honey Hurry Home,” “Mexico’s Daughter” and a cover of the Jerry Lee Lewis hit “Break Up” are three tasty lagniappes that leave you wanting more.

Repeated listenings of this disc, especially in the car, reveal new vocal and instrumental intricacies each time through and make one thankful to be around to hear such a band make such great music, both live and in the studio.

by Aaron Keith Harris

“Circles Around Me” by Sam Bush

Sam Bush
Circles Around Me
Sugar Hill Records
5 stars (out of 5)

The opening guitar chords in Sam Bush’s new CD Circles Around Me signal that this is a new turn in an old story. Sam Bush has produced a fine album of fourteen songs that return to an earlier era while forging into new territory. This is a neat trick, but Sam pulls it off with conviction and his customary high musicality. Sam uses his touring band of Scott Vestal, Byron House, Stephen Mougin, and Chris Brown to set and maintain the Bush sound while inviting a number of guests to share the microphone. Songs by Ebo Walker and an appearance Courtney Johnson reach back to his days in New Grass Revival. Four songs exceeding six minutes in length suggest the importance of the jam in a Bush performance or recording. Three traditional songs and a guest appearance by Del McCoury recall the importance of straight ahead bluegrass music in Bush’s music; the duo presents two Bill Monroe songs. All told, the CD communicates an elegiac tone in which Bush seems to be seeking to highlight and summarize his long, successful, and creative career.

It often seems that at a certain age — Bush is 57 — writers decide to look back at their careers and do some self assessment. These songs (or stories) are usually filled with regret, remembrance, joy, or some combination of these emotions common to people who have gained perspective and maturity. Circles Around Me introduces this CD and serves the purpose of opening the door of memory while leaving it open for still further growth and development. Albums often open with a bang, as if designed to grab and hold onto the listener. This song asks “how in the world did we get this far, holding tight to the tail of a shooting star?” Bush acknowledges the people and forces that have come into his life and suggests that those he’s influenced through the years are “running circles around me now.” There’s little if any regret to this refrain.

One of the most delightful elements of this album is the way Sam includes shades and shadows from his past in new and interesting ways. Songs from NGR days like “Souvenir Bottles” and “Diamond Joe” mix with the new murder song “The Ballad of Stringbean and Estelle,” a true story about the murder of Grand Old Opry star David “Stringbean” Akeman. He includes two older Bill Monroe songs sung with Del McCoury, who, along with his current acclaim, sang as a Bluegrass Boy early in his career. Then he writes a “Monroe-like” waltz tune and presents it with Edgar Meyer on bass, along with the rest of his family. The late Courtney Johnson, banjo player with NGR, and an Ebo Walker song help make the historical connection. The combinations and memories running through the disk circle back on themselves, reinforcing the title, “Circles Around Me.”

A highlight of Circles Around Me is Bush’s use of his road band at the center of the album. Scott Vestal on banjo, Byron House on bass, Stephen Mougin on guitar and harmony vocals, and Chris Brown’s percussion complement Bush and create the ensemble sound that grows when a band travels and performs together over a period of years. Guest appearances from Jerry Douglas on Dobro, Edgar Meyer on bass, along with his wife Cornelia Heard and son Nathan, and Del McCoury’s guest vocals are tastefully included and blend perfectly with the band.

With Circles Around Me Sam Bush has presented a brilliant collection of the old and the new, at once looking backward and forward. Still the consummate musician himself, he surrounded himself with others who share his vision and has produced a truly wonderful addition to the overall bluegrass catalog.

by Ted Lehmann

“Love, Lost and Found” by Lost & Found

Lost & Found
Love, Lost and Found
Rebel Records
3.5 stars (out of 5)

When bluegrass fans gather around campfires, and the tunes start rolling it seems inevitable that a Lost & Found song is eventually played to wide smiles and grateful nods. After a long recording hiatus, Allen Mills’ long-running band is back sounding as good as ever!

“Back in Her Arms” has a “Me and Bobby McGee” feel within its melody, and is an easy introduction to the new lineup of Lost & Found. The musicians comprising Lost & Found are now Allen Mills (bass and vocals), Scottie Sparks (guitar and vocals), Ronald Smith (banjo and vocals), and Scott Napier (mandolin).

The material on this album is smoothly played, but never slick. The playing and singing is natural sounding, and has not been obviously impacted by studio wizardry. The song selection is not especially challenging but neither does it need to be, featuring tunes made popular by Ernest Tubb, Patti Page, and Don Reno. Everything is presented in an admirable fashion.

Oft-recorded songs including “Don’t Let Your Sweet Love Die” are performed sincerely. “That’s What Country Folks Do” sounds like a standard, but that may be a credit to Mills’ delivery of the populist lyrics. “Pretty Roses Remind Me of You,” is another sentimental Pete Goble song that will remain timeless. Three compositions from Dan Wells standout, particularly the pure lonesome “Letter Stained in Blue.”

But the past has not been entirely set aside. Dempsey Young, the popular and outstanding mandolinist for the entire run of the band until his death in 2006, is featured on more than half of these tracks, recorded in 2003 after their previous album, It’s About Time. Representing the final recordings he made with the band, tunes such as “Trail of Sorrow” and “A Daisy a Day” (featuring his lead vocal) are certain to become favorites amongst the Lost & Found faithful.

As has been the case for over thirty years, there is nothing ostentatious about this Lost & Found album. They do what they do, and they do it very well. Allen Mills’ voice remains impressive, and Scottie Sparks is no slouch when he takes the lead spot; his singing provides a bit of country to the bluegrass mix.

With Love, Lost and Found the band has chosen to rise above the many challenges it has encountered, and have emerged as a band that is primed to welcome its future.

By Donald Teplyske

“North to Ontario 2009″ by Various Artists

Various Artists
North to Ontario 2009
www.cootmusic.com
3.5 stars (out of 5)

 

Gene Gouthro and Tom McCreight have to be among the most ambitious semi-professional bluegrass musicians in North America. Not only do they maintain a popular and long-running,Ontario-based bluegrass band Silverbirch, they have now fronted four collections of original Ontario bluegrass music bearing the North to Ontario moniker.

As with the previous volumes of the series, this one features nearly twenty different lineups performing self-written and original material within a variety of bluegrass styles. The quality of tunes and performance are generally high, although understandably not consistently to the level one would anticipate from premier touring bluegrass groups. Not unexpectedly, the instrumentation is, collectively, more impressive than the lead vocals. Still, more hit nail than wood.

The always impressive Mike O’Reilly brings us another new song, “Caleb.” Fronting the aptly titled trio O’Reilly/Miller/Lester (featuring Larry Miller and Emory Lester), O’Reilly again proves himself to have been a Southerner in a previous incarnation, sharing a tale of Civil War challenge. Miller’s banjo is especially notable.

The fairer side of bluegrass is well represented. Marianne Girard’s “Alabama” is not only a well-written song of geography-challenged love, but her voice is singularly impressive. Honeygrass’ “Parents’ Love” is a quaint tale of familial love based around the music we love.

Pam Brooks & Lonesome Wind provides a fine song “Month of Sundays” that one would not consider out of place if heard on an Alecia Nugent album. “Waiting at the Crossing” features the impressive vocal trio of Sweetwater’s Tammy Carruthers, Nanda Wubs, and Patricia North. Jan Purcell & Pine Ridge returns with another fine song, “Sign on the Door.”

Silverbirch is always a favourite, and “The Long Road” demonstrates there is plenty fuel left in the band’s tank; an album from this lineup would not be unwelcome. Bill White & White Pine have a way with faith-based old home and mother songs, and they combine these themes on “A Church by the Side of the Bed.”

Prairie Siding have developed into a personal favorite, and their “1950 Studebaker” doesn’t disappoint. Finally, Denis Rondeau’s “Doghouse Breakdown”- yes, a two-minute upright solo- is much more enjoyable and impressive than one might anticipate.

Is Ontario poised to take over the bluegrass world? Umm, no. But wise American ears might consider scouting the talent from this lineup for fresh approaches to bluegrass music, both for recording projects and to provide something a little different on a festival stage.

by Donald Teplyske