That Was Then is the latest release by the Virginia based Bluegrass group, Springfield Exit. This offering consists of fourteen cuts with all but one of those (the Bob Dylan jam chestnut, You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere) feature the lead vocal talents of Linda Lay.
This project features Ms. Lay so much that the group could actually be called Linda Lay and Springfield Exit and that is not a bad thing. Her singing is ‘spot on’ with regard to pitch, tone and good taste. Her vocals are easy to listen to and, at least on this CD, she doesn’t attempt material that is ill suited for her vocal range or out of step with her artistic persona (no head-banging or rich, syrupy lyrics). Linda’s material, here, is largely thematic, laid-back and allegorical.
Ms. Lay is accompanied by her husband, David, on guitar and vocals; Tom Adams on banjo; David McLaughlin on mandolin, banjo, fiddle, guitar and vocals and Marshall Wilborn on bass. All are seasoned musicians and their performances here are nothing short of excellent.
Hillwilliams is a Bluegrass group from the Portland, Oregon area. Their release of Hill Yeah consists of ten cuts, of which seven are original compositions and three are instrumentals. The cast for this production was Rich Landar on Mandolin and vocals. He also engineered and produced the CD. Matt Franzen plays banjo and sings. Jeffree White plays acoustic guitar and also does vocals. David Gerow plays fiddle and Bernardo Gomez plays upright bass.
The overall feel of the project is homemade, original and within the general parameters that most folk would call Bluegrass. They combine to create some nice work, making good use of their strengths, which is arranging and composing. Rose City Waltz, composed by fiddler, David Gerow, is quite an intricate piece that I can imagine being a fine contest fiddle selection. Mr. Gerow also wrote another of the other instrumentals, Ratty Old Hat, which has an upbeat, swing feel and quite a number of chord changes. Banjoist Matt Franzen plays a strong break on this one, as does bassist, Gomez.
Previous to this listening experience, I had never heard Pokey LaFarge’s music, though I have ‘Bluegrass friends’ that strongly favor his work. Something in the Water offers up twelve cuts, about half of which are original compositions from Mr. LaFarge. It is superbly produced and professionally tracked. Balance and tone are exceptional and the overall sound quality is warm and comfortable.
First off, it think it would be fair to say that nothing on this CD remotely resembles Bluegrass music, even by the most liberal artistic standards. It is roughly a blend of Blues, Dixieland Jazz, Swing and Folk music performed with hardly any instruments that might traditionally be associated with Bluegrass. No five-string banjos, fiddles or mandolins, that I could detect, though it sounded like Pokey used an upright bass and acoustic guitar on at least some of the cuts. There are brass horns, tenor banjo, electric guitars, lap steel and a host of other instruments that even the most drug-crazed Bluegrass aficionado would reject as incapable of making a contribution to Bluegrass music.
God bless Robert Earl Keen for restoring my faith in artistic integrity! This is a dooooozy of a CD, and it’s as real as dirt under your fingernails. It’s bluegrass, it’s old timey, it’s honest, straight from the heart, Mother Earth music and Robert Earl has done the world a favor recording this tribute to the music he loves and grew up listening to.
Robert Earl Keen had come to Durango, CO. a while back for two nights of concerts, which were both sold out, and I managed to be out of town and miss ‘em both! Friends had informed me that he had also been interviewed on KSUT, the local PBS station, and had mentioned he had a bluegrass CD coming out soon. I couldn’t help myself, my first thought was: “Just what we need, another country/pop/rock/reality star going BLUEGRASS to try to make some money.” Call me a grumpy old pessimist, but that’s exactly what has been happening…. Janie Fricke going “bluegrass” was nothing more that her old country hits re-done with some acoustic instruments added. Her intent was like a neon sign….. Let’s call it “bluegrass” and cash in! I passed on reviewing it. And Dolly…. she had a grand total of four bluegrass tunes on her last CD, and immediately the bluegrass media was called to help promote her “bluegrass” CD. I passed on Dolly, too. Needless to say, I wasn’t sure what to make of Mr. Keen’s new bluegrass CD when it arrived….. fool me once and all that old curmudgeonly crap! As a fan of Mr. Keen’s music, I knew that I had to give ol’ Robert a listen, and maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t get fooled again. Well, I guess the third time was THE charm!!!
On the runway this week at the Prescription Bluegrass Airport we have the first recording effort of the Virginia based duo, Davis Bradley, ( that's Kathy Davis and Brad Bishop) entitled: CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF.
Having met less than a year ago, brought together by their love of music, Kathy and Brad filed a flight plan to start a band and play music together. Since that time they have played over 125 “gigs” and have opened for headliners such as The Boxcars. Performing at festivals, wineries and coffee houses. This inaugural CD of 12 selections includes half Davis Bradley originals and half covers of “Bluegrass/Country tunes.” All this without the inconvenience of a TSA pat-down.
Most of the essential ingredients for a successful, airplay worthy album are all here. The recording, engineering, artwork and production are first class. However, repeated listenings found me wishing that Brad and Kathy would have waited a little longer before heading into the recording studio. In the case of Cleared For Takeoff, eight months clearly was not an adequate amount of time for the duo to get their vocal, harmonic and technical intricacies dialed in. Believe me when I say that it is difficult for me to be a Debbie Downer here. But apply any analogy you like; a baseball glove, fine wine, a guitar, a pair of boots, even bananas. They all get better with age and must be given time to work out the kinks and let time, chemistry and familiarity work their magic.
One of the cool things about Christmas music, at least since the dawn of the recording era, is being able to hear one's favorite artists put their own twist on familiar Christmas classics. Bing did it. Elvis did it. The Beatles did it too. I like the concept of time tested classics getting tweaked to fit the artist's style. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Right Miley?
The timing couldn't be better for Claire Lynch to finally get around to recording a scrumptious Christmas album. Oh yes it works, it works just fine. Claire herself admits that this CD is long overdue and “the fates have allowed” it to come to fruition. The result was worth waiting for and would make an excellent addition to anyone's Christmas music collection. Especially if you lean heavily in the all acoustic direction. Which, if you are reading Prescription Bluegrass reviews, you are already bitten.
For me, one of the more selfish reasons of going to a bluegrass festival, either as a paid performer or spectator, is the prospect of getting into a good after hours jam. Those prospects are akin to a company picnic raffle. Sometimes you get squat. Sometimes you win a crummy frisbee with the company logo on it. But, once in a while you get lucky and go home with a new TV or barbeque grill.
On an August weekend in 2011 at Vista California's Summergrass Bluegrass Festival my selfishness paid off. A small impromptu jam erupted under the dim lights of the snack bar canopy. It began as most jams begin. Old Blue Sound tech Alvin Blaine and I were noodling around on guitar and banjo. Sawmill Road was performing that weekend and lucky for us mandolinist Mark Miracle showed up to pick a few.
“Here Come Feller & Hill Again,” is one of those CD’s that for me, slipped through the cracks. I’ve been too scattered, for too long, to get the review I wanted to write even started, much less finished! I just about had the first copy of the CD the boys sent me worn out when it disappeared somewhere between Oklahoma and Colorado……where it went I do not know, but, I swear I’m never movin’ again! I loved their first release, and in my review of it, I said that it should be in the running for the IBMA “Album of the Year” award, and I meant it. For an artist to have their first recording be so focused, personalized and recognizable is unheard of, but Tom and Chris pulled it off in spectacular fashion. With this new one, (to keep from getting confused, I refer to it as #2,) the boys have stepped up their game considerably and it is every bit as good, or better, than their debut CD was. With liner notes written by none other than Tom T. Hall, this is another first class project from Tom and Chris, and, as with their first release, it’s also on Tom T’s Blue Circle Records.
The first time I ever saw the name Tim Stafford in print was in the liner notes of a 1990 holiday CD that my good friend Butch Baldassari had produced and recorded.
The title was “Evergreen – Mandolin Music for Christmas.” Evergreen was made famous by none other than The Weather Channel. During the holiday seasons of those early 90's, Evergreen was the background music as graphics for your local weather scrolled across the screen.
It was a perfect fit. Soothing acoustic Christmas music on a winters day. Cold weather sold a lot of copies of that now classic recording, and the deft guitar work of Tim Stafford was exposed.
A few years back, in keeping with the rulebook governing the average male's mid-life crisis, I purchased a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28. Yes, it was as sweet as the picture that just popped into your head. One of my challenges, aside from avoiding speeding tickets, was finding someone that knew how to work on these no-frills, all gas and guts, non-computer assisted muscle cars.
I managed to find the perfect guy. He had worked as a factory trained mechanic at a Chevrolet dealership from the early 60's through the early 90's. He was as happy to be able to work on a “real” car as I was to put my trust in him. He knew how and why that car was built and knew how to extract every ounce of horsepower it had to give. No doubt, old school.
