Music Reviews

Hearing a CD from The Grascals for the first time is like having an old friend drop by. Even if you haven’t seen each other for a while, you know just what to expect and get comfortable right off the

First… a bit of background… According to his website, Jason Barie grew up in Florida, picked up his first fiddle at the age of 10, took classical music lessons beginning in the fifth grade, learned to play bluegrass at a local music

After eight albums over the span of a dozen years, one can’t help but get the impression that the title of Volume Five’s new offering, For Those Who Care To Listen, bears a bit of irony. In a sense it’s

While the sound and spirit of Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton appear to inform every note and nuance that inspire Donna Ulisse’s vocals, the singer herself has no need to lean on any comparisons whatsoever. Winner of the

The best songs are, by nature, overtly entwined with sentiment. On their new Rebel Records album, Authentic, Band of Ruhks lives up to the disc’s title by sowing songs flush with shared feelings and, well, authentic emotion. A stirring mix of

It’s hardly surprising that Gospel music and bluegrass are often intertwined. After all, both are borne from core values that find faith and music sharing a common bond. The Gospel Plowboys convey those convictions through their mutual devotion, and indeed,

Granted, the billing sounds more like a consulting firm than a bluegrass band, but in truth, Jeff Parker & Company have been entertaining audiences with their down home sounds for more than three decades. A native of central Kentucky, Parker

If it sometimes seem like Steve Gulley is literally everywhere, well suffice it to say there’s good reason. Aside from his regular morning presence as a DJ on one of East Tennessee’s most prominent radio stations, WDVX, he was practically

It’s hard to say anything about Mark O’Connor that hasn’t been said before. An award winning multi-instrumentalist, he’s been on the receiving end of countless kudos ever since he proved himself a teen prodigy in his adolescent years. For the

North Carolina banjo picker, Danny Bowers, has released a solo project entitled Late Night. Bowers, who is banjoist with Travis Frye and Blue Mountain, started playing music at age 10. According to Bowers, he is a pure-blooded banjo nerd. For