Prescription Bluegrass – CD Review The Burie Family – Here Today Gone Tomorrow

March 31, 2016

Artist : The Burie Family

Project: Here Today Gone Tomorrow

Release Date : December 2015

Label: Independent

Producer : Tim Surrett

Engineer: Scott Barnett

Recorded at: Crossroads Studios

OK...here's the deal: What we have here are two sisters and two brothers, all well under the age of twenty years old. 

Experience warns me to turn my head a bit to the left , clinch one eye shut and

prepare to cringe a bit when I hit the play button. To be honest, how much can one usually expect from teenagers taking a swing at recording their first bluegrass album? 

Apart from Nickel Creek, my instincts have rarely been wrong. As I slip the disc into the player, I take a gander at the CD cover. They look like great kids, but still I instinctively cringe with anticipation.

Then, out of the speakers flows a bouncy tasteful rendition of the Gershwin's “Lady Be Good” followed by an amazing cover of “ I Wouldn't Change You If I Could.” 

The instrumentals are precise and laden with healthy acoustic tone. The timing drives the music. The vocals, though youthful, are dialed in. The harmonies are mathematically and soulfully correct...and my instincts are taken to the

woodshed.

The Burie Family doesn't scare easily. They don't sweat the Gershwin brothers, Phil Spector, Chubby Wise or even Clay Hess. All are covered with respect and finesse. 

The Buries throw four originals into this mix and it works like a clock. Pay particular attention to track #7, Rebekah Burie's “Mister Man in

the Moon.” You'll swear she was born in 1946. Several similar gems are to be found in the 12 cuts on this CD.

Brothers Joe and Nate Burie man the Bass and Mandolin, both help out nicely with vocals. Sisters Rebekah and Bethany show some very nice Fiddle and Guitar work and both sing like angels.

Tiffany Burie ( I will guess Mom?) leans in with lead and tenor vocals on a few cuts as well.

Nevermind that a banjo player hasn't (to date) been born into this family. Russell Carson snuck away from Ricky Skaggs just long enough to help out with this CD. Son !

There is a growing trend at more and more bluegrass events to reach out to the young and very young. Workshops for kids, kids on stage, bluegrass kids, camps, one on one instruction with today’s super-pickers and festivals priced to be family friendly, summon the video game rattled youth out of the

basement and into late night jam sessions. I see it increase every year, coast to coast.

My first experience of “kids” playing bluegrass on stage was at the 1993 IBMA convention when (under the direction of Peter Wernick) Josh Williams, Cody Kilby, Michael Cleveland and Chris Thile took the

stage. I mean ...they took the stage. They took it. It was a surreal experience. Programs such as this are obviously paying off big-time. 

The Burie Family, from southeastern Wisconsin for heaven's sake, are

capable of throwing down legit bluegrass as found on this CD at such an early age is the proof in the pudding.

Give this CD a listen. Go buy it, order it or download it. Better yet, make it a point to see the Buries perform live. Keep an eye on these youngsters, they are going places.

All things Burie Family can be found at :www.theburiefamily.com

Reviewed for Prescription Bluegrass by

Marty Warburton / PreWarBone@gmail.com

PrescriptionBluegrass.com