Although billed as “bluegrass” by his record label Joe Hott is much bigger than that; bluegrass, country, old-time, folk, and Americana all seem to cross in his sound. “Traditional” sums it up as much as anything, though it sounds a … Read More
Unspoken Tradition hails from the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, and is one of those “new” bands that has been around a while. Myths We Tell Our Young (2019) follows their debut Simple Little Town (2013) and Miles Between (2015) … Read More
Moonshiner’s Daughter is Cindy G.’s third album, coming behind her 2012 debut The Road, and her second effort Jailbreak. Her second album featured Sam Bush, Bryan Sutton, Seth Taylor, Rob Ickes, Todd Phillips, Scott Vestal, Aaron Ramsey, and Rhonda Vincent … Read More
We’ll cut to the quick; there seems to be two views on drums in bluegrass. The first take, to borrow a phrase from Bill Monroe, is “That ain’t no part of nothin.” The second take is to view the drums … Read More
The Borrowed Tyme Band is Roger Brown, Rick Wilson, and Kolin Brown and hails from the hills of Indiana. I’d love to tell you more, but the band seems to be traveling incognito, the only bio on the band website … Read More
Dennis K. Duff has made his living as a songwriter for others in the bluegrass and country genres. Now that he’s stepped out with his own album you would very much expect that it would be centered around the songwriting, … Read More
5 Speed I always hope to return from the summer bluegrass fests with one great new find; and this year I hit upon Cane Mill Road at the GreyFox Bluegrass Festival in the Catskills. Apparently I’m not the first to … Read More
I do seem to get drawn to the roots and branches of bluegrass: old-time music, traditional bluegrass, new-grass, string band, Celtic, etc. This band would fit comfortably under the old-time umbrella, but carries plenty of folk, country, and Americana; aren’t … Read More
I’ve read another review that calls Hammertowne’s music “blue collar bluegrass.” If you take that to mean no-nonsense, straight up traditionally crafted bluegrass that honors the greats of bluegrass but stands on their own well-written tunes, well, you’re on the … Read More
Sam Bush has a great rant about “Bluegrass Unlimited,” and on first listen this album certainly fits into “Unlimited”! Alt-Bluegrass? Country? Folk? Rock? Yup, there’re drums. But the instruments are acoustic. The fiddle is sweet. The vocals carry more than … Read More