Tag Archives: Bluegrass music

Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms’ Innocent Road

When you listen to an album and you can’t tell which are originals and which are classic country covers, that’s a good sign. I was pretty sure that the opening track of Innocent Road by Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms … Continue reading

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3hattrio’s Solitaire

Hard on the heels of 2015’s eyebrow-raising Dark Desert Night comes 3hattrio’s third full-length release Solitaire. It’s named for Desert Solitaire, the classic 1968 book about dryland ecosystems by Edward Abbey. This stringband trio from the red-rock desert of southern … Continue reading

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Joe K. Walsh’s Borderland

Creating new music from old traditions is the hallmark of roots music anywhere in the world. And it’s what Joe K. Walsh does on his debut solo album Borderland. This mandolinist, songwriter and singer has been active in the Americana … Continue reading

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John McEuen’s Made in Brooklyn

Banjo player John McEuen is one of the unheralded giants of American roots music. He was a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, one of the first to blend rock and country in a new way that didn’t … Continue reading

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John McEuen’s Made in Brooklyn previewed

You and I would probably never think of playing Warren Zevon’s “Excitable Boy” as a bluegrass song. That’s why someone like John McEuen, who did think of it, has had a 50-year career as a groundbreaking roots musician, and you … Continue reading

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Richard D. Smith’s Bluegrass: An Informal Guide 

Brendan Foreman penned this review. Bluegrass music really lives a strange existence within the world of American music. Its form is too stylized and polished to classify it properly as a “folk music.” After all, the big bluegrass events of the … Continue reading

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Alison Krauss and Union Station’s Live 

Peter Hund penned this review. This is a natural time for Krauss and the boys to put out their first live album. After 15 years of paying her dues (five group albums, three solo releases and a collaboration with the Cox … Continue reading

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Dolly Parton’s Little Sparrow 

In the collection of “chick flicks” TBS broadcast on Super Bowl Sunday, one film stood out. It was slightly older, a little bit wiser, and offered charming performances by Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Julia Roberts and a virtually unrecognizable Daryl … Continue reading

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Great Northern’s Low Lonesome 

Great Northern came to my attention through their stellar instrumentals — heard one day on the CBC radio, causing me to beg our benevolent editor, Cat, to write away for their album. I absolutely love the way that the cello … Continue reading

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Chris Thile’s Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Chris Thile’s music is intricate and full of ideas. He is clearly very creative with melody and has been fortunate to surround himself with great players (whoever they are). Unfortunately, this advance copy of Wander, due to be released this month, … Continue reading

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