Review: Singing From the Heart - Daily and Vincent

Rounder Records from Burlington MA last year released a Dailey and Vincent a cappella recording comprised of 12 cuts, all of them with a religious reference.  This is as it should be--it was recorded as a fundraiser for Tennessee Bible College.  Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent have fine bluegrass pedigrees, and both had participated in gospel/spiritual music in their musical background.  Their IBMA awards give testimony regarding their musical “chops,” but it’s a jump from bluegrass, with 4 or 5 bluegrass instruments blazing the way for the vocalists, to the sound of a handful of voices, bare of all but the sound of air passing over vocal cords.  These two performers, with the help of other bluegrass, gospel and country vocalists, (music veterans all) put out a full, ringing and satisfying rendition of each of the gospel tunes, with nary a guitar, banjo or bass in sight.  It’s all in the voices, where there is no room to hide.

Review: The Other Side Of Towne - Grasstowne

Grasstowne is Steve Gulley on guitar and lead vocals, Alan Bibey on mandolin and lead vocals, Phil Leadbetter on resonator and slide guitars, Jason Davis on banjo, and Travis Greer on bass. Special guest Stuart Duncan on the fiddle helps out on so many of the tracks that he's an essential member of the band for this disc.

The Other Side of Towne is the band’s sophomore album, following their award-winning debut The Road Headin' Home.  If you like your bluegrass with deep country roots and a strong gospel background, The Other Side Of Towne is a great place to start.

Review: New Lost City Ramblers: Where Do You Come From, Where Do You Go

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has re-issued the recordings of the New Lost City Ramblers (1958 - 1973) in a new 3 CD set.
 
This set features two previously released CDs of the Ramblers classic Folkways recordings: The Early Years, 1958-1962 with the original trio, and Out Standing in Their Field: Volume II, 1963-1973, with Tracy Schwarz replacing Tom Paley. A newly compiled third disc, Where Do You Come From? Where Do You Go?

Blue Highway: Some Day: The Fifteenth Anniversary Collection

It seems like just a few short years ago that I attended a concert at Wilkes Community College. Looking back, I guess it was 1994 or '95, I was there to see the band Seldom Scene, with new members Dudley Connell, Fred Travers and Ronnie Simpkins making their Scene debut.  But, the opening act blew me away, for it was the first time I had heard Blue Highway.  I came away with an autographed copy of their CD A Long, Long Road and a feeling of excitement for what would become one of my personal favorites.  That first Rebel Records recording was followed by two more Rebel releases and, then, a compilation of “the best of” the first three.