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Our website is now branded with the HVBA's new logo.  This, like most all HVBA initiatives, has been a collaborative effort.  The logo was designed by Jessica, daughter-in-law of Board member David Angell.  It was funded by Board member Jerry Oland and after discussion by the HVBA board incorporates our original "banjo" logo.  The banjo was an impromptu, miniature, hand drawning by my old friend and Florida musician Glenn Moody.
 
Thanks, too, to Jake Albert for getting the masthead up on our website.  The entire effort and end result is significant because it further personalizes our very professional and busy website, hvbluegrass.org.

Two Reviews: The Grascals & The Steeldrivers

Rounder Records
The Grascals- Keep on Walkin'
The Steeldrivers

Highly Recommended!

Here are two bands whose recordings are better reviewed together than separately, because these bands embody very different visions of what bluegrass is all about. Compare what they call themselves: The Grascals have a pun built into their name; the whole idea of a "rascal" is somebody mischievous but lovable, perhaps an outlaw but
still a good man at heart. The Steeldrivers, on the other hand, evoke with their name a tougher, meaner world, a place where good people suffer and the best one can do is endure. That, in a nutshell, describes the music of these two wonderful but very different bands: the Grascals sound happy even when the songs are ostensibly sad-
listening to them is uplifting. The Steeldrivers sound like they're making music just to find a bit of catharsis in a world of sin and suffering; their music is plaintive, with the "ancient tones" (as Mr. Monroe put it) expressed with extraordinary skill.

The Grascals, whom I've had the pleasure of seeing live, have a special talent for taking country songs and making them sound like they've been part of the bluegrass repertoire all along- even adding some piano along the way but seemlessly blending it into the the chops and rolls. Their approach shouts out: we're bluegrass, and we can do anything we want and still be bluegrass! Never losing their optimism, the great George Jones song "Choices," a reflection on a life not particularly well-lived, becomes almost a song of redemption and hope, while "Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line" has such an infectious pep to it than one forgets that Waylon Jennings once conveyed a bit of threat in the original. This, I think, is what makes the Grascals so compelling; while every band from Bill Monroe and Flatt and Scruggs has done bluegrass versions of pop, folk, and country songs, what the Grascals do is transform those songs, so you hear them in a new way, as new music. (I've already forgotten the original Elvis version of Viva Las Vegas.)



One interesting song, "Indiana," made me realize that this generation isn't singing about moving from the mountains to the town, but from the town to the suburbs- the nostalgia is still there, but it's about a different history than the subject of so many first generation bluegrass classics. To me, the best song on the album is "Remembering," about a life forever changed by the experience of war; it's one of the few times on this album when the Grascal's non-stop party slows down a bit, and the song itself approaches social commentary for our current era of two long wars. We're back on the upbeat track towards the end of the album: "Keep on Walkin'" and "Happy Go Lucky," have titles that pretty much tell you all you need to know. I haven't said much about the arrangements or breaks, but rest assured, these guys are tight, fast and clean- they play at the highest level of professional bluegrass. The Grascals might sing some songs about the blues, but their music is all about taking a break from the hardships of the world- they're among the most fun bluegrass bands I've heard in a while, and that's a high recommendation.

Putting on the Steeldrivers after listening to the Grascals is a bracing experience, because the Steeldrivers embrace the lonesome, desperate sound in bluegrass and take it almost as far as the genre will allow. There's not a single song on this CD that has a happy ending; most deal with death, injustice, suffering, and if love shows
up, it's only as a danger. The very first song on the album speaks of a "world of shadows," and you get the feeling this band means it.  Compare "Dark Whiskey" to the Grascal's "Happy Go Lucky"- two songs about drinking and bars, but the first is a dire warning, and the second, a celebration. "If It Hadn't Been for Love" is one of the darkest bluegrass songs I've ever heard, as if the "Banks of the Ohio" were put into the voice of an obsessive stalker, who has murderous revenge as the only consolation for love gone horribly wrong.



The Steeldrivers often have a spare approach to arrangements, sometimes starting a song with just one instrument, but I suspect that it's the voice of lead singer Chris Stapleton that will set the Steeldrivers apart for most listeners. Stapleton has a craggy, soulful voice, unlike almost any I've heard in the bluegrass world; he's almost a Delta blues singer in a bluegrass band. (Not only that, but he's written top 10 country songs for folks like Kenny Chesney. Go figure.) The vocals are so powerful on this CD that it took me several hearings to appreciate the instrumental quality. More than most bluegrass bands, the Steedrivers arrange their music around the narratives, not just alternating breaks, and they have a great feel for dynamics within the song. It's great to hear a band that remembers that not all bluegrass has to go full speed ahead!

The Steeldrivers, like the Grascals, have created something new in bluegrass: a modern mountain sound, but one rooted in the oldest traditions. It's to their credit that you realize these songs sound ancient and contemporary at the same time. Highly recommended.

HVBA Luminary - Jeff Anzevino

Q.  Jeff, how long have you been interested in bluegrass music and how did that come about?

A.  I always loved music, even as a little kid.  As a teenager I liked Eric Clapton and the Allman Brothers.  Layla was my favorite album and remains a favorite even today.  I suppose that's where I first heard the slide guitar.  When I moved to Florida as a teenager, I discovered Marshall Tucker and Charlie Daniels, which were bands whose sound was largely defined by fiddle.  Also, Vassar Clements played fiddle on Allman guitarist Dicky Betts records.  So, I had a disposition toward country sounding rock music, particularly with slide and fiddle. 

Rules To Pick By...

I      Thou shalt not come to the jam to impresseth others with thine own talent for this is an abomination.  The music shall be the star around which all musicians rotateth and not viceth-verseth! Attempts to make thine own star shine, shall surely lead thee into darkness!

II     Thou shalt not forsake the beat. Thou shalt not speed up nor slow down accidentally when playing a tune for this shall be considered an abomination.

III    Thou shalt arrange thyself in a small circle so that thou mayest see and mayest hear all the other musicians. Thou shalt listen with thine ears to the songs and shall attempt to play in one accord with the group.  Also, thou shalt lift up thine eyes to look about thee, lest there be some visual sign that someone endeavoureth to render unto thee.

A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection: Alison Krauss

This CD is a collection of tunes done outside of Alison Krauss's Union Station Band, and several cuts outside the bluegrass genre. Alison has to me one of the easiest voices to listen to in bluegrass. She features her voice on this CD much to my liking, and as a bonus includes duet tracks with James Taylor, Brad Paisley, and John Waite.

There are tunes that have been previously recorded, and some new material with a total of sixteen songs.  She is backed up by a variety of today's best acoustic/bluegrass musicians, who lay back and give her voice plenty of space. There is a nice range of texture in the music, from the up-tempo infectious tune “Sawing on the Strings” to the haunting tune Molly Bawn. 

After listening to the duet with James Taylor, I wanted more, and would love to see more collaboration between these two masters of voice. 

Rounder Records
 

Review: “Wheels” by Dan Tyminski

This CD is Dan Tyminski's second CD under his own name.  He has built up an excellent reputation as a member of  Union Station, and as the “voice” behind the song Man of Constant Sorrow, in the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou.”  Tyminski plays both guitar and mandolin, but it is his voice that I have always viewed as his greatest gift. This CD does not disappoint, as Dan does the lead vocals on all the tunes. 



He is joined on this CD by Adam Steffey on mandolin, Barry Bales on Bass, Justin Moses on violin, and Ron Stewart on banjo. These players are all experienced, excellent musicians; but at times I felt there was so much talent that they were stepping on one another. I kept thinking, with the instrumental parts, let it breath a little.

Bluegrass runs the spectrum from traditional Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs style to the outer limits in bands like Crooked Still.  I'd put this CD as more progressive than traditional, almost bluegrass pop.  I took the time to Google reviews on this CD and found that generally these are very favorable, so take my restrained endorsement with a  grain of salt.

Rounder Records