Music Reviews

A return to the music one chose to make early on can be like a return journey home. Not surprisingly then, guitarist Francois Vola can relate to that same scenario. His descriptively titled album, Back to Bluegrass, offers the French-born

With their fine fifth album, West Virginia’s Circa Blue demonstrate once again why they’ve increasingly become the bluegrass band to watch over the course of the past several years. Adept in their arrangements and assured in their intents, the band

Though Ralph Stanley II cut his teeth on his dad and uncle’s mountain stylings, his early solo efforts tended to lean a little more toward a country sound, just like several other Clinch Mountain Boys lead singers – Keith Whitley,

It becomes very clear at the outset that the Borrowed Tyme Band have no interest in pushing the parameters. Their homespun harmonies and breezy homilies make it clear that they’re content to confine themselves to bluegrass’ traditional trappings, and recreating

First things first: Merle Monroe is no relation to Bill. By blood, that is. Musically, however, there are some definite influences from the Father of Bluegrass, as there are from the band’s other namesake, Merle Haggard. As you see, Merle

There are very few artists that I will purchase a new album from unconditionally, without first previewing and skimming tracks, or perhaps downloading a few singles. It seems like so many albums these days are filler surrounding three or four

Credit Nightflyer, a group of veteran musicians who hail from Southwestern Ohio, for finding the ideal compromise between that which is classic and contemporary. Taking their name from a Tony Rice song, the band — lead singer and guitarist Richard

Stories and Traditions is the new CD from North Carolina-based Sons of the South. The band has a long history of over 50 years. Though members have changed during the past five decades, the traditional bluegrass songs, tight harmony, and

Album title aside, the highly acclaimed North Carolina combo dubbed Sideline take an unassuming stance with their latest effort, a set of songs that offers an ideal example of bluegrass at its best. It says something that this six piece ensemble

The aptly titled Long Ago is a celebration of sorts, one that marks the union of two talented bluegrass practitioners who have not only remained faithful to the form throughout their married life, but also well before. According to Jim