CD Review - Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper - ON DOWN THE LINE

Michael Cleveland is a nine time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Assn. (IBMA) Fiddle Player of the Year Award, and he’s up for it AGAIN in 2014! Listen to his newest CD, “ON DOWN THE LINE,” and you’ll know why in an instant!

A lot of fancy words get bandied around to describe his playing, all true, I must say, but…. in my humble opinion, what Michael has, in ample supply, is plain old simple FEEL! Feel can change with the tempo, the time signature, the genre of the song and a thousand other intangible aspects. For an instrumentalist to format his playing to enhance a good SONG, and all of a good song’s many elements, and to show that specific song off as beautifully as it needs and deserves to be, THAT is a musician being true to who he is. Cleveland puts his soul and passion into making the song the star. Let’s face it, the listener doesn’t always remember the person singing or playing the song, but…. they always remember the song, and the song is the final winner of every popularity contest. From what I’ve heard of Michael Cleveland, his FEEL is his strongest asset. There is simply no weakness in his playing, just turn him loose on anything, and he will make it shine, knowing exactly what to play, or, more importantly, what not to play. Michael can be the best friend a good song ever had.

CD Review - The Roys - THE VIEW

Lee and Elaine Roy are a brother-sister duo that largely features their considerable vocal and songwriting talents. Both have beautiful voices that enmesh nicely with each other. Elaine plays guitar and Lee plays mandolin and they are well-supported on this effort by Daniel Patrick on banjo and reso guitar, Clint White on fiddle and Erik Alvar on bass.

The View offers up eleven original cuts, including one instrumental, with the title cut sharing writing credit with longtime Country Music luminary, Bill Anderson. Their overall presentation on The View is well within the boundaries of what most would consider ‘Bluegrass,’ though they probably wouldn’t be characterized as “traditional” Bluegrass by most enthusiasts.

Elaine’s voice is ever-so-slightly salty, but gilded: smooth and clear with character and presence. She’s easy to listen to and well establishes her ability with fine lead-vocal work on the opening cut, No More Lonely, as well as on No More Tears (one of my favorites), Sometimes (a tribute to adults dealing with dementia-afflicted loved ones), Mended Wings and The View.

Prescription Bluegrass Reviews: Larry Sparks LONESOME and THEN SOME - A CLASSIC 50th CELEBRATION

An old friend of mine had recommended that I get Larry Sparks’ “40” CD seven or eight years ago…… she had worked on the recording and engineering of “40” and her enthusiasm for it, I found out in time, was more that justified. She’s good about steering me towards the “good” stuff, and I think she knew it would teach me plenty, if I would just take the time and really listen.

I did listen, and I learned so much about the depth, strength, history and pure power of bluegrass music from that CD, a recording I still listen to regularly. When Larry’s newest, “Lonesome and Then Some….. A Classic 50^th Celebration” arrived, it jumped right to the top of the pile! It’s been here two days and I’m already writing this review. What does THAT tell you? At this rate it’ll be worn out by Labor Day!

CD REVIEW: DETOUR - GOING NOWHERE FAST

Just so the gentle reader knows, I am being real careful here. My intent is to insure that I not overstate my delight with Michigan based bluegrass band Detour's latest release “Going Nowhere Fast.”

If you trust me, save yourself the burden of further reading and simply order, buy or download this CD now. If you don't trust me me, how dare you? Read on.

I would like to loosely quote icon Steve Martin in which he laments that “ ...a lot of bluegrass bands today sound alike. You can't tell one from the other when listening to a song on the radio.” Well said Steve, and you know Mr. Martin is right. If not for the artist identification technology of Sirius XM and other radio stations or a D.J. chiming in at the end of a song, most bands would go unrecognized. This is where Detour has an absolute advantage over the scores of today's bluegrass bands scratching and clawing for recognition. Listen to Detour's lead vocalist Missy Armstrong sing one song, just one, and you will never, ever, be in the dark about who's voice that is or what band you are listening to again. It has always been a quirk of mine to hit the rewind button in order hear again just a few notes of a good guitar lick or a nasty little mandolin fill. I caught myself backing up this CD over and over just to hear Missy sing the opening line,“Early on one Saturday...” to kick off Jeff Rose' “Train, Train.” Missy Armstrong's voice is a pure velvety tone and perfectly matches the vibe of this band.

Prescription Bluegrass CD Review - GRITS & SOUL Flood Waters!

I find myself drawn to new music that expands the borders of traditional music, that edginess is what I search for. That first generation of bluegrass and country music innovators is what I was raised on; and, I can’t remember a time when my parents weren’t listening to the latest hits when I was a kid. But, pushing those boundaries and adding different nuances and personalities to the traditional mix excites me!

Sometimes the experimentation is a total failure, but, when it works, and some new inflection is added to that “old” mix, my ears tell my heart to listen up and pay attention. That’s the case with the release of FLOOD WATERS, by the duo/band “Grits & Soul.“

Anna Kline and John Looney have written eleven songs that take me right back to the music of my formative years. They have a real grip and feel for that old sound, and, they’ve got the talent and intestinal fortitude to do it their own way, today!

PRESCRIPTION BLUEGRASS REVIEWS: Red June - Ancient Dreams

I wasn't ready for Red June. I looked over the CD cover and grazed over the liner notes. I saw the word “Organic.” I saw a non Martin guitar, a fiddle and a Dobro. I was in full Snob mode. My mind was made up. How can this be any good?

Then Red June took me to school. They took me to school and made me stay after. You'll not hear any hot banjo tunes or breakdowns on this CD. None needed. Red June doesn't roll like that. They are all about their original material. Original material that is tastefully arranged and faultlessly executed. I like this band.

PRESCRIPTION BLUEGRASS REVIEWS: GENTLEMEN OF BLUEGRASS - Carolina Memories!

As I started to listen to this CD, “Carolina Memories,” by The Gentlemen Of Bluegrass, I couldn’t help but think of my Mother.

The word “gentleman” is one of those key words in my memory bank. It’s Mother’s Day and Mom’s been gone now since January 4^th of 2011. She always told my brother and me that we needed to be gentlemen: open doors for the ladies, pull out their chairs for them at the dinner table, make sure we had a handkerchief (which she used to iron!) in our pants pocket and to use it if we needed to sneeze!

She also urged us to be gentle MEN. The first was not hard to remember, she reminded us frequently…the second was not always easy to accomplish.

 

Prescription Bluegrass CD Review: MohaviSoul - Blue Diesel

I have often daydreamed about how great it would be to live in a town or part of the country where you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a fiddle, banjo or mandolin player.

I know these places exist and it's not just Nashville, Tennessee. Some parts of the country produce pickers like Hawaii does pineapples. I admit that most of these coveted communities are located on the eastern half of the continent. Places where the problem isn't finding a jam, it's deciding which one to go to, and then you walk there.

Prescription Bluegrass Reviews - Johnny Campbell & The Bluegrass Drifters

“ ... This CD is proof that traditions are still being passed from generation to generation. Thanks to guys like Johnny Campbell, this music will never fade.”

                                                                                   - Marty Warburton / Prescription Bluegrass

os·mo·sis [ oz-moh-sis ] noun  1. a subtle or gradual absorption due to association or mingling: “Some of the students neglected to study, but seemed to learn by osmosis.”

Upon giving Johnny Campbell's self titled CD several rides in the F-150 listening room I vowed that I would use the word “osmosis” somewhere in this review. I just did. Why go there? I'm glad you asked.

Johnny is a third generation fiddle player that grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. Not only did Johnny's Dad and Grandpa play fiddle, but his older brother Jimmy played fiddle extensively with Jim & Jesse as well as Bill Monroe.

Here is a fact of musical reality; When you grow up around a Grandpa that plays fiddle, and you grow up in a house where your Dad and brother plays fiddle, you are setting your self up for this whole “osmosis” phenomenon.

Prescription Bluegrass Reviews MA CROW & THE LADY SLIPPERS - Memory Of A Mountain

25 years ago the idea of women playing bluegrass, serious bluegrass, was still a novelty.

There was a smattering of female artists and bands back then, Lynn Morris, Laurie Lewis, Gina Britt, Deanie Richardson, The New Coon Creek Girls, The Good Ol' Persons (sorry Paul Shelasky) and Claire Lynch just to name a few.

Just to name a few I said...no letters please. But none really ever rose to national prominence. Even the Dixie Chicks went unnoticed until they dropped their bluegrass image and went mainstream country.

Prescription Bluegrass Reviews - BLUEGRASS EXPRESS - In Our Own Words

If you want to record a bluegrass CD and make sure it is special, unique and individualized, keep it in the family! That rule of thumb seems to work for the Underwood family band, BLUEGRASS EXPRESS, from Illinois.

Three generations of musical talent have put a familial ring to their new project, “In Our Own Words.” All twelve songs have been written by either the Underwood Patriarch, Gary, his son Greg or grandson Jacob.

The CD kicks off with one of Jacob’s compositions, “The Road Ends.” Jacob drives the song with a first class banjo intro and solo, and takes it out with a solid performance.

Prescription Bluegrass Reviews - Johnny Campbell & The Bluegrass Drifters !

Before the days of home computers, digital terminology and ProTools, and before genre-bending Bluegrass influences like Doyle Lawson, Tony Rice and Alison Krauss, Bluegrass music was a simpler, more ‘earthy’ concoction.

With this recording effort, Johnny Campbell re-creates a pre-digital recording session where musicians gather around a single microphone in the studio and play until something is ‘good enough.’

This approach obviously has pros and cons. Gone is the prevailing ‘slickness’ of modern recordings. Also, there is no separation of instruments and voices, so the balance and mix is marginal.