“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

“A Tribute to Fiddlin’ Paul Warren” by Johnny Warren & Charlie Cushman

Johnny Warren & Charlie Cushman
A Tribute to Fiddlin’ Paul Warren
CharlieCushman.com
4 stars (out of 5)

Depending on whom you are exchanging opinions with, the name Paul Warren should come up when discussing popular and influential bluegrass fiddle players. While others such as Kenny Baker, Chubby Wise, and Curly Ray Cline may be mentioned first, knowledgeable fiddle fans will eventually get around to dropping Paul Warren’s name.

As an old-time country fiddler, Warren had few peers and many admirers. Proclaimed on an old CMH album as “America’s Greatest Breakdown Fiddle Player,” Warren served as a sideman for two of the most revered names in bluegrass, Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt, as a member of the Foggy Mountain Boys. Warren spent forty years as a professional musician, winding up his time with Flatt and The Nashville Grass. Warren succumbed to illness in 1978.

This 17-track tribute of fiddle tunes was launched by Paul’s son Johnny and long-time fan and highly regarded banjo-slinger Charlie Cushman. Doubling on rhythm guitar, Cushman’s banjo-playing serves as a complementary foil to the younger Warren’s fiddling. Having listened to this album back-to-back to tunes featuring Paul Warren, one is likely stretching things if they claim to hear significant difference in the two musicians’ playing.

The album features Marty Stuart on mandolin, Tim Graves on resonator guitar, and Kent Blanton on bass, and this trio serves as as fine a house band as one could want. As far as I can tell, former Nashville Grass mandolinist Curly Seckler is featured on a single track, a take of “Sugar Tree Stomp.” Scruggs drops in to lay down some of his classic runs on “Buck Creek Gal.” Another highlight is “Ole Joe Can’t Play the Fiddle,” a tasty fiddle and banjo duet propelled by bass playing that just pops.

Individual track credits are not provided, a shame considering how much writing is contained within the package. Nominated for an IBMA award this past year for impressive liner notes from Eddie Stubbs, Marty Stuart, Cushman, and Johnny Warren, the esteem in which both Warrens are held is obvious.

Old fiddle tunes, some (according to the liner notes) almost lost to time, comprise the bulk of the project. “Poplar Top,” “Two Hog Weeds and One Stalk of Corn,” “Pretty Girl Goin’ To Milk a Cow,” and “Hollow Poplar” are but a sampling of the creatively titled tunes, each evoking the past.

Selecting individual highlights within such an impressive package of recordings is a fool’s mission. One is best advised to track down the recording, slip it into the CD drive, and allow the modern sounds of bluegrass past to envelope all troubles and concerns.

Celebrations of bluegrass music’s venerable history must continue. That some of the music’s finest practitioners are wiling to align themselves with the product of the first generation to honor a talent as mighty as Paul Warren’s is highly admirable. That they have produced so worthy a tribute is most extraordinary.

by Donald Teplyske

“One More for the Road” by Adam Steffey

Adam Steffey
One More for the Road
Sugar Hill Records
4 stars (out of 5)

Chris Thile won the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Mandolin Player of the Year Award in 2001, breaking a string of eight years in which Ronnie McCoury won the award. A year later, Adam Steffey, a veteran of Alison Krauss’ Union Station then with The Isaacs, won the award and kept it for six out of seven years.

Whereas Thile’s playing is out-of-this-world and not at all bounded by the conventions of bluegrass music and McCoury’s playing is bluesy and biting, Steffey’s is clean, bright and always groove-inducing, making him perhaps the prototypical modern bluegrass mandolinist.

Steffey’s sophomore solo CD shows off that signature sound in settings that include fellow award-winning or all-star pickers like Clay Hess and Dan Tyminski on guitar, Barry Bales on upright bass, Stuart Duncan on fiddle and Ron Block on banjo.

The wide-open, insistent “Deep Rough” evokes a crisp Saturday morning on the golf course, while the Celtic-inflected “Durang’s Hornpipe” benefits from the old-time banjo picking of Adam’s wife Tina Steffey. “Half Past Four” and “Barnyard Playboy” will underscore the reason why it’s hard not to use a variant of the word “groove” more than once when discussing the Steffey style.

Steffey’s deep baritone voice makes its first appearance on the 3 a.m. lament of the brooding title track and shows its versatility on Red Allen’s old school “Lie to Me.” Mark Rader’s “A Broken Heart Keeps Beatin’” and Steffey’s self-penned “What Give You the Right” are — here’s that word again — groove-heavy workouts that fit his voice perfectly, and Ron Block’s “Trusting in Jesus” injects a welcome bit of gospel into the proceedings.

That would be almost enough for a good album, but the disc’s 12-track, 37-minute roster  is rounded out by three stellar vocal cameos: Tyminski leads a raucous “Let Me Fall,” Ronnie Bowman nails Kris Kristofferson’s “Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends” with a performance that would make George Jones proud, and Alison Krauss turns in another classic guest appearance with the stunning “Warm Kentucky Sunshine.”

by Aaron Keith Harris

“Forever Yours” by the Hagar’s Mountain Boys

Hagar’s Mountain Boys
Forever Yours
No label
3 stars (out of 5)

We first saw The Hagar’s Mountain Boys, in one of their very first performances, at the Rivertown Bluegrass Society in Conway, SC about four years ago. At that time they were raw, just beginning to feel their way into becoming a band. A year or so ago, at the Willow Oak Bluegrass Festival in Roxboro, NC they were schedule for six sets over three days. This heavy duty schedule stretched their repertoire and their voices to the breaking point. Nevertheless, their work showed an increased maturity of vision as well as vastly improved performances and musicality. The addition of Blake Johnson on vocals added significant talent to their sound.

Now, with the release of their new CD Forever Yours, under the guidance of founder and front man Ricky Stroud has produced a fine, traditional bluegrass album that should have broad appeal.

Produced by Jason Moore , Mountain Heart bassist, Forever Yours offers four originals, one penned by Blake Johnson and the others carefully selected, as well as several appropriate covers that span the bluegrass waterfront pretty well. Except for the appearance of Jim Van Cleve on fiddle, the present recording displays the talents and skills of the band you’d see and hear at bluegrass festivals or other performances.

As news of this young band gets around, they are being seen more widely, including an appearance in Florida this winter. The tempos and strong rhythm the band generates captures the excitement of traditional bluegrass with most songs having been written fairly recently.

Blake Johnson shows a first class high baritone bluegrass voice with good timbre and plenty of soulfulness, communicating emotion and commitment to the song. It’s an honest and strait forward voice that’s easy to listen to and rewarding. His range of emotion and ability to sell content adds a fresh dimension to the genre. His singing on Travis Tritt’s “Anymore” reaches out to a listeners heart. He does a creditable job on bass.

Ricky Stroud plays solid and tasteful mandolin as well as contributing a good lead on one song. His harmonies are dead on and he’s to be commended for having the humility, as the band’s founder and front man, to leave the heavy vocal lifting to the very talented Johnson.

Mike Johnson, Blake’s father and the band’s guitarist, contributes three leads and offers solid harmonies. The band shows its musical versatility on the traditional a capella gospel song “Lord, Don’t Leave Me Here,” Cliff Smith on banjo offers capable work along with good vocal harmonies.

Forever Yours is a very pleasing effort by the Hagar’s Mountain Boys. It has been released on a private label, and can be obtained from the HMB Web site. Steve Gulley wrote the liner notes. This CD presents a refreshing new band in a good light. It’s worth your attention.

by Ted Lehmann

“Whatcha Gonna Do” by the Claire Lynch Band

The Claire Lynch Band
Whatcha Gonna Do
Rounder Records
4 Stars (out of 5)

Claire Lynch’s new CD on Rounder Records, Whatcha Gonna Do, falls comfortably into the realm of Americana, its bluegrass, country, folk, blues, and jazz roots showing clearly through in a delightful collection of mostly new songs.

She presents a set of twelve songs each chosen to show off her light, friendly, and emotionally subtle voice and the musical versatility of her very fine band. As befits a band whose members have already won five IBMA individual awards and are nominated for an additional two in 2009, the band demonstrates musical depth and variety with plenty of melody and versatility.

Lynch builds on her bluegrass and acoustic roots to create an album worth repeated listening and thoughtful appreciation. With a train song, a mine song, a couple of road songs, some light gospel, and an appreciation for rural life and values, Whatcha Gonna Do fits easily and comfortably within the bluegrass world while offering lots of opportunities for lovers of other genres to discover and appreciate Lynch’s musical vision.

Lynch has either written herself or co-written four of the songs in this collection. “Highway” is a women’s road song that celebrates re-discovering one’s self worth on the endless road. “Face to Face” (co-writteen with Donna Ulisse) is a light and hopeful gospel song. “Widow’s Weeds” provides and old-timey sound and feel while lamenting continued mourning for a lost husband. In the last cut on the recording, Lynch celebrates the dark loneliness of the deep southern woods in a song called “Woods of Sipsey” dedicated to her grandmother.

The CD makes the obligatory nod to Bill Monroe in “My Florida Sunshine,” one of Monroe’s more forgettable, though tuneful, songs. For me, “Barbed Wire Boys” and “Great Day in the Mornin’” are among the highlights. Singer songwriter Jesse Winchester makes a guest appearance; otherwise the band for the CD is Lynch’s road band.

With the versatile and virtuoso playing of Jim Hurst on acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, and, in one cut, mandolin, and Mark Schatz’s always impressive work on bass, the CD does not lack for strong instrumental play. Jason Thomas on fiddle and mandolin, although less known than the others, is impressive in his work here. Lynch’s voice is flexible and engaging, and the harmony vocals contributed by Hurst and Thomas are unobtrusive, while making the appropriate contributions.

While Whatcha Gonna Do may not appeal to hard core traditional bluegrass music fans, its broader appeal is undeniable. It fits neatly into the progress of her music. People who attend Lynch concerts will see and hear the band on the recording, a good feature, and will find the recording an excellent representation of her live performances. The CD is easy to listen to, but not easy listenin’. It’s worth buying and adding to any collection.

by Ted Lehmann

“Solo: Songs My Dad Loved” by Ricky Skaggs

Ricky Skaggs
Solo: Songs My Dad Loved
Skaggs Family Records
4 stars (out of 5)

When Skaggs returned to bluegrass music after a highly succesful career in the country field, he kept Kentucky Thunder as the name of his band. Even though the personnel has changed, his use of the band setting to showcase his own virtuosity, as well as that of his elite sidemen, has not changed. Until now.

On this loving tribute to his father, Skaggs plays a number of instruments – acoustic guitar, resonator guitar, round hole and f-hole mandolins, mandocello, octave mandolin, steel-string and gut-string fretless banjos, fiddle, piano, bass, Danelectro electric baritone guitar and percussion – achieving a simplicity and intimacy over 13 tracks and 40 minutes approaching that on Skaggs’ masterpiece duet album with Tony Rice.

Fred Rose’s “Foggy River,” with its loping rhythm and effortless vocals, serves as a great tone-setter for the set. It’s followed by “What is a Home Without Love?,” one of two Monroe Brothers tunes — the other being “This World is Not My Home” — that play to Skaggs’ strengths as a harmony singer and honor the fact that Hobart Skaggs played in a similar duo with his brother Okel before Okel died in World War II.

Skaggs includes three instrumentals here and each is a pleasant surprise: “Colonel Prentiss,” with some great, greasy old-time fiddlin’, the sprightly drop-thumb banjo workout “Pickin’ in Caroline,” and “Calloway,” a nice and easy fiddle and banjo tune.

Roy Acuff’s “Branded Wherever I Go” and a Stanley-inspired take on “Little Maggie” get a straightforward treatment from Skaggs’ signature tenor voice, while the novelty song “I Had But 50 Cents” Skaggs sings with a twinkle in his eye.

It’s no surprise that Skaggs connects most viscerally with the gospel material: the gently menacing “Sinners, You Better Get Ready,” a retelling of Pslam 23 “Green Pastures in the Sky,” the call-and-response “God Holds the Future in His Hands” and “City That Lies Foursquare,” on which Skaggs’ keen embodies the yearning for Heaven.

by Aaron Keith Harris

“Love and Other Tragedies” by Red Molly

Red Molly
Love and Other Tragedies
Red Molly
4 stars (out of 5)

Red Molly is an all-female trio of very talented folks based out of Stony Point, N.Y. that have put together an extremely entertaining project called Love and Other Tragedies.

Although this CD isn’t exactly in my musical wheelhouse it is an excellent project with great use of vocal harmonies as well as a good variety of material ranging from Melissa Monroe’s “Is the Blue Moon Still Shining” to Gillian Welch’s “Wichita”.

Five of the thirteen songs on this project were written by band members Laurie MacAllister, Abbie Gardner and Carolann Solebello and they stand up well along side songs written by other, more recognized songwriters. As singers, these ladies show that they can handle up tempo tunes as well as slow contemplative ballads with equal ease.

The ladies are ably accompanied on this project by Jake Armerding on fiddle, Duke Levine on mandola and electric guitar and lap steel, and Mike Weatherly on bass, with some vocal help from Anthony da Costa, Fred Gillen Jr. and Steve Kirkman.

“Wichita” is an excellent song to open the CD as it shows the difference between the use of mandola as opposed to mandolin. The mandola is a much more weighty instrument and gives the whole CD a darker tone with much more low end.

“Beaumont Rest Stop,” written by Laurie MacAllister, is all about leaving home when you really don’t want to and coming home when you have to. “The Mind Of A Soldier,” written by Abbie Gardner is a ballad of longing for the soldier gone to war and the need for a man, hopefully the right one.

“Summertime” is Carolann Solebello’s contribution to the songwriting aspect of the CD and is a reflection on home and the simple life as opposed to something more complicated.

Melissa Monroe’s “Is the Blue Moon Still Shining” has a Laurie Lewis-like sound to it, which isn’t a bad thing at all. The Dobro is particularly effective in this piece and the harmonies make for a very smooth presentation.

“Honey on My Grave” is another Abbie Gardner written song and, to mind, speaks of getting earned respect.

“Old Dancin’ Fool” is an old fashioned waltz type tune that has a nice flow and the laziness  of it all is very relaxing, with the song suggesting that we “close our eyes and hold to each other” and everything will be OK.

“Sentimental Gentleman from Georgia” is a strong swing tune with a bluesy turn that makes good use of vocals and the mandola fits it very well.

“Wayfaring Stranger” is traditional song that has been arranged a hundred different ways but this arrangement, although not a lot different from most, has a haunting sound with the mandolin backed by the lap steel and fiddle.

“This Farm Needs A Man,” written by Laurie MacAllister is all about the trials and tribulations of men gone off to war and the woman doing the “best I can” under the circumstances.

“Make Me Lonely Again” is about the plight of the wallflower who finds a mate and wishes that she could return to the wallflower life where she was happily lonely and didn’t realize it.

“Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning” is a very old song that may have been first recorded by Rev. Gary Davis. In the bluegrass genre it is probably best know by Hot Rize ,but Red Molly does a credible job in keeping the lamp trimmed and burning in anticipation of the returning of the Lord.

“May I Suggest” is an a cappella number that is an apt ending to the CD as it features the honey sweet vocals of Red Molly.

All in all this is a very strong performance and certainly deserves a listen. A solid four stars out of five.

by Charlie W. Hansen

“Brothers from Different Mothers” by Dailey & Vincent

Dailey & Vincent
Brothers from Different Mothers
Rounder Records
5 stars (out of 5)

Every once in a while, an album comes out that reminds me why I first fell in love with bluegrass music: the soaring, tight harmonies, the sense of fun in seeing how much you can do within the limits of the genre, and, of course, a driving banjo.

Dailey & Vincent’s eponymous debut album did that for me, and their sophomore album Brothers from Different Mothers does it again, staying mostly within the formula that worked last time, but reaching for, and grabbing, that little bit extra that keeps it fresh and eminently exciting.

Joe Dean Jr.’s banjo kicking off “Head Hung Down” signals that the energy meter is set to 10 right off the bat, with the vocal trio of Jamie Dailey (guitar), Darrin Vincent (mandolin, arch-top guitar and bass) and baritone Jeff Parker (mandolin) clearly in fighting shape.

That’s even more evident on the next track, Roger Miller’s “You Ought to Be Here with Me,” which features a gorgeous high-lead trio on the verses and a stratospheric tenor line that Dailey hits on the chorus.

“Your Love is Like a Flower” isn’t the Flatt & Scruggs hit of the same name, but a quick-stepping showcase for Vincent’s lead vocals on the verse and for the duo’s brother-style harmonies on the chorus.

The brother duet is back on the gospel of “When I’ve Travelled My Last Mile,” with an arrangement that recalls their stellar performance on Gillian Welch’s “By the Mark” on the last album.

“Years Ago” is a cover of the Statler Brothers’ 1982 country hit about a guy slinking into his ex’s wedding, and an unabashed tribute to that group’s southern gospel sound, driven by a Scruggs-style guitar figure, some light percussion and, again, those amazing harmonies.

Next is another Statler Brothers tune, “There is You,”a happy duet that morphs into a trio on the choruses and ends with an understated southern gospel crescendo.

The boys get back to straight bluegrass with “Girl in the Valley,” a Dailey-penned song that he previously recorded with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.

Ron Spears’ “Please Don’t Let Our Sweet Love Die” is another modern update of a classic bluegrass song, this time in the form of a country weeper with Dailey offering proof that he’s every bit as great when singing a simple lead as when he’s harmonizing.

Sometimes gospel numbers take the momentum away from an album, but the opposite is true here, with “Oh Ye Must Be Born Again” and “When I Reach that Home Up There” serving as opportunities for more great southern gospel-style harmonies and demonstrating the band’s obvious love for the message of that sort of material.

In between those two powerhouses, lies a simple, perfect take on Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ lonesome, yet hopeful, “Winter’s Come and Gone.”

A modern gospel tune framed with simple guitar and a string quartet, “On the Other Side” closes the album on a sentimental note, one that took me a few listens to get used to given its difference from the rest of this project, but in the end, it was — again — the perfect harmonies that won me over.

This one’s easily my favorite bluegrass release of 2009.

by Aaron Keith Harris

“Two Dimes & a Nickel” by David Davis & the Warrior River Boys

David Davis & the Warrior River Boys
Two Dimes & a Nickel
Rebel Records
5 stars (out of 5)

A true bluegrass gentleman, David Davis doesn’t release albums terribly often. But when he does…Wow!

Since taking control of The Warrior River Boys more than twenty years ago, and including this new Rebel recording, Davis has only released five albums of new material. That this is the third release in just over five years would indicate that Davis may have found his stride.

A David Davis & the Warrior River Boys album sounds like no one else’s. While certainly commercially palatable, Davis occupies a fine niche within the bluegrass market. He doesn’t seem to have the populist appeal of a Skaggs, Cherryholmes, Lawson, or Vincent, but he possesses an artistic vision as defined and assured as any of those mentioned.

David Davis albums have a bluesy, literary quality setting them apart from the annual releases of several more commercially successful artists. Witness his 2004 treatment of Bill Grant’s “In the Shade of the Big Buffalo” or “Chancellorsville” and “The River Ran Black” from 2006’s Troubled Times. To give them their proper due, Davis albums should come leather-bound as is afforded the finest classic writing. Like those of Blue Highway, Davis releases have substance balanced by cracking good performances.

That Davis writes none of the songs on Two Dimes & a Nickel matters not; the man works tirelessly to uncover songs of unusual quality, and then interprets them to best reveal their stories, emotions, and messages.

As he has in the past, Davis turns to West Virginian Alan Johnston for standout songs. Just when one thought the John Hardy story had been examined from every possible slant, along comes Johnston’s “Two Dimes & a Nickel” revealing a fully realized, multi-dimensional man, albeit one with anger-management issues.

The album’s strongest track is Tommy Freeman’s “The Brambles, Briars and Me.” Again, a seemingly exhausted vein — infidelity leading to lonely contemplation — is explored, but the songwriter finds fresh perspective. A flipside to “Long Black Veil,” this time out the best friend and the straying wife pay the ultimate price at the hands of the cuckold. Stalking the hills, the betrayed spends time among the brambles and briars remembering not only their transgressions but what he lost as a result. The song is positively spooky in its matter-of-factness, and the Warrior River Boys — especially Owen Saunders’ fiddle contributions — make it haunting.

David Davis brings to mind Buzz Busby as Davis tends investigate the dark sides of relationships and society, exploring the qualities most of us resist or keep hidden.

Like the best of Johnny Cash’s recorded material, Davis’s songs possess a cinematic scope. Thematically similar, Freeman’s “Tennessee Line,” Jim Eanes’s “Broken Promise,” and Jim Kelly’s “Never Looking Back” are fully-realized treatments that could provide inspiration to filmmakers. While very different from John R. in voice, Davis frequently favors a half-spoken singing style reminiscent of the Man in Black.

Ensuring familiarity, the band hauls out a couple festival favorites in “I’ve Been All Around this World”  and “The Train That Carried My Girl to Town.” “Never Looking Back” could be a song written in 1964, so straightforward it is in its approach. Yet the song never seems to resort cliché, even as the rambler compares life to a railroad.

Whenever a bluegrass band illuminates the mountain music roots of a rock song, one must be impressed. The Marshall Tucker Band’s “Blue Ridge Mountain Skies” is re-imagined and sounds more bluegrass than much currently resting on the national surveys. The lyrical phrases are compacted befitting the chosen tempo, and the instrumental breaks are elongated allowing the banjo and mandolin to breath life into the tune. It’s fresh, vibrant, and inventive.

The same can be said for the entire album. Once again, David Davis and his Warrior River Boys —  Saunders, Adam Duke (guitar), Marty Hayes (bass and tenor vocals), and newcomer Robert Montgomery (banjo and baritone vocals) — have ideally captured their truly unique approach to bluegrass.

Kudos to the Rebel team, and artistic director Christopher Kornmann, for encouraging and designing a album package and booklet that have timeless qualities. The photography captures the reflective moods of the songs, the layout is clean, and the effects are appropriate for a nontraditional-sounding bluegrass album that embraces the history and spirit of the music.

A classic recording.

by Donald Teplyske