Phrases like “ear candy,” “beyond perfection,” and “ingenious piece of work” come to mind when describing Kenny & Amanda Smith’s latest album, Whole World Round. This 14-song project features touching harmonies; powerful instrumentation; a great, varied and well-thought-out song selection; and a true quality sound mix.
The Smiths know a thing or two about recording good music. Their choice in gifted musicians, story-telling tunes, and a great team of sound engineers along with their perfect blend of voices makes this recording one of my favorites of the year.
Hammering the banjo is Calib Smith (no relation). He is truly underrated in music circles, and hopefully this recording will help to draw his picking into the limelight. He knocks it out of the park.
Cory Piatt adds just the right mando breaks to the mix. Kyle Perkins, now of Grascals, lays down a solid bass foundation. Kenny’s guitar work on a historic 1937 D-28 (on loan from Gary Burnette’s Bee-3 Vintage Guitars of Asheville) just helps to underscore why he is an award-winning guitarist.
The songs range from the Dillards’ classic original and title cut of the album, Whole World Round, to modern day new songs. Four tunes are penned by David Summers. One, Tears of the Cherokee, has been number one on the Bluegrass Today Weekly Airplay chart.
Kenny shared…
“I met David when I played in a band in Chattanooga. He wrote a song called Ten Mile Tennessee that my friend Bobby Burns used to sing. I always loved that song. We met David’s brother at a concert and he played us a demo of Wiley Parker and River Road.
I called David and talked about wanting to record those two songs. David then told me about Tears Of The Cherokee, and sent that demo. I listened to the demo and couldn’t even talk, it immediately made me think of my Grandma. David is one of the best songwriters that I have ever met and we’re blessed to know him.”
A band of faith, their project includes a couple of powerful gospel songs: The Inventor and Don’t Let Me Go Astray. The lyrics and harmonies are chilling.
Kenny lends his songwriting talents with Brent Trout to Last Summer. Amanda shared how the collaboration came to be.
“We sold a toy diner set on marketplace, and a songwriter bought it. Kenny had on a guitar shirt and he asked if we played music. He told us he was a songwriter. Kenny said, ‘We should write together sometime.’ He came back about a week later and we wrote Last Summer.”
The project includes a heart-warming selection, Pretty Little Baby, by the Smiths’ 11-year-old daughter, Annabelle, that shows her vocal talents exceed her birth years. This little lady is bound for stardom.
Finally, this recording is an artistic audio mix. All the voices and instrumentation are melded in a perfect balance. Crank up the volume and you’ll hear what modern day studio bluegrass music should sound like. With this, the Smiths have recorded ten albums at GAT3 in Charlotte.
Amanda stressed the studio’s value to their sound.
“Glenn Tabor is the best engineer we’ve ever worked with. He always tries to outdo the last album and tries different techniques to make the sound better. He’s in a class of his own. He is a big part of our sound sonically since we started our band.
Glenn’s whole family works at GAT3, so his daughters did the photography and design of the CD artwork. Glenn’s wife, Susan, does all the scheduling and coordination of the project with the studio.”
Obviously, from start to finish, the album is a labor of love. I think there will be more number one hits coming from Kenny & Amanda’s Whole World Round.
Highly recommended.
