VW BOYS
RETROACTIVE
Mountain Roads Records
MRR-1011

The VW Boys continue releasing recordings that everyone, even if they won’t admit it, would find pleasing. That’s because The Boys get it.

They understand that fun is a huge segment of entertaining, and that a big part of creating that fun is connecting with the audience through songs that they know and (guilty pleasure or not) enjoy. In an era when most everyone has grown up with a wide variety of musical styles playing in almost constant rotation around them, those songs are likely to come from anywhere. They can come from Pure Prairie League (“Amie”), the Everly Brothers (“All I Have To Do Is Dream”), the Beatles (“I Feel Fine”), Marshall Tucker Band (a killer version of “Fire On The Mountain”), or even Arkie Shibley (“Hot Rod Lincoln”). They can be placed beside “Earl’s Breakdown,” “Brown Mountain Light,” and “Keep On The Sunny Side,” and there’ll hardly be an eye batted. Fun is fun and a good song is a good song.

That said, don’t get the impression that this is some sort of a goofing-around throw-off album of warhorses and popular songs. There is plenty of seriousness in the musicianship of the VW Boys and in the way they approach a tune. Banjoist/vocalist Tim White, guitarist/vocalist Dave Vaught, and relative newcomer bassist/lead vocalist “Fat” Albert Blackburn give these songs the appropriate backing and vocals and put a bit of their own stamp on them, as well. They also manage to give the non-bluegrass material a bluegrass feel and yet remain true to the sound of the original style. In other words, it’s not just a rock song taken in bluegrass tempo (as Red Knuckles might interpret it), and for that I’m thankful. I’m also impressed with the harmonies and particularly by the rich, resonant lead of Blackburn.

Rounding out the fun is the goofy western swing tune “Rag Mop” and the nifty cover of Bob Dylan’s “Rock Me Mama” retitled “Wagon Wheel” with lyrics by Ketch Secor. (Mountain Roads Recordings, 3192 Highway 421, Bristol TN 37620, www.vwboys.com.) BW

SIERRA HULL
DAYBREAK
Rounder Records
11661-0652-8

I first witnessed Sierra Hull’s talent at the IBMA’s World Of Bluegrass in Louisville, Ky., back when she was all of 11 years old. While she was truly a child prodigy and that will always be a part of her story, she is grown up now, folks.

Hull will be 20 years old in September, and her new album Daybreak showcases an artist who is successfully coming of age.

Produced by Hull and Barry Bales, Daybreak finds Sierra following the trail of her friend and mentor, Alison Krauss. That is not to imply a copy and paste of Krauss’s sound, but instead suggests an incredible instrumentalist who is also a lead vocalist. If there was one criticism I had of Hull in past years, it was that her obviously sweet voice needed to be a little stronger. And now, it is. With the opening notes of the first cut “Easy Come, Easy Go,” you will hear her in fine vocal form. The song falls into the acoustic country category, a bluegrass-real country hybrid with a new acoustic flare to it. Then, Hull’s brother Cory kicks off a banjo lick to start the second song, “Don’t Pick Me Up,” which is bluegrass from the floor up. And, there is a surprise or two to boot, including the western swing fun of “Best Buy.”

One thing that I always look forward to with a Sierra Hull project is the unveiling of new and powerful Hull-penned instrumentals. Here she provides two, “Chasin’ Skies” and the über-smoking “Bombshell.” Both cuts feature Bryan Sutton on guitar and Stuart Duncan on fiddle. The rest of the guests on Daybreak include Shawn Lane, Ronnie Bowman, Christian Ward, Clay Hess, Jacob Eller, Ron Block, Ron Stewart, Randy Kohrs, and Dan Tyminski. (Rounder Records, One Rounder Way, Burlington, MA 01803, www.rounder.com.) DH

SCOTT ANDERSON
TALES FROM THE SWAMP
No Label
MATO 1315

There are 13 tracks on Scott Anderson’s second solo release. Four are original songs by either Scott or his daughter, Amanda, and the other nine are covers.

Only “Can’t You Hear Me Calling” and the instrumental “Temperance Reel” are bluegrass standards, though “Folsom Prison Blues” might be included in there as well.

Supporting Scott on this project is a host of famed and lesser-known pickers, 23 in all. To name them would probably take most of the space for this review, so better it is to mention them as their performances dictate, as in, for example, Anderson’s cover of “Minor Swing,” a jazz standard that appears on quite a few bluegrass recordings and rarely fails to please. It certainly does not fail here. Anderson notes that this was a late “off-the-cuff” addition, and you can hear that. It’s a bit loose, but it is obvious that Anderson, Sam Bush, Barry Bales, Aubrey Haynie, and Jim Hurst have played this many times, and that “off-the-cuff”quality gives it verve, particularly in the “trading fours” section.

“Minor Swing” is followed by a fine cover of Bob Dylan’s “Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power),” taken at a modest lope. Anderson lays out an expressive vocal interpretation, and Stuart Duncan and Sierra Hull provide some effective support. Also worth noting is the whirling rendition of the aforementioned “Temperance Reel” and the solid quality of two of the band originals: Scott’s minor-tinged “Sorry Song Number Forty-Seven” and Amanda’s “Drivin’, Singin’, Cryin’,” which succeeds on its drive and its bright, catchy chorus. Amanda sings them both and does so with polish and energy. Scott, for his part, gives an equally polished and energetic lead vocal to his cover of Dave Evans’ “Be Proud Of The Gray In Your Hair.” Once you get past the faux, old recording intro, it is among the most enjoyable tracks on this well-played, well-sung album. (Scott Anderson, 3609 NW 136th St., Gainesville FL 32606, www.scottandersonmusic.com.) BW

THE ROCKRIDGE BROTHERS
NO SLEEP UNTIL ROCKRIDGE
Red Rocking Records
RRR06

These Swedes found punk rock too mainstream for their tastes, so they went for the ultimate grunge sound of American old-time mountain music.

They are adept at the genre with Kristian Herner’s banjo being exceptional. Peter Frovik’s guitar and Pontus Juth’s bass form a solid foundation for the band’s hard-driving approach, drawing heavily from the revivalist approach of such bands as the Horse Flies and the Red Hots. Dressed like the New Lost City Ramblers on the CD cover, they sound at times like a hip Kingston Trio with their harmony vocals. These guys rock the tunes with a vengeance.

Ralf Fredblad’s fiddle can play with pathos on mellower pieces like “Wayfaring Stranger,” and then careen wildly through faster pieces, all the while walking the ragged edge, veering to the nerve endings of the beat and coming back. His frenetic approach contrasts nicely with the solid drive of the remainder of the band.

Vocally, one would be hard-pressed to know they aren’t Yanks. Punctuated with growls and other guttural sounds where appropriate, they sing real well, with a respect for the material. “Wild Bill Jones” sounds as if derived from Mac Benford’s arrangement, with some interesting chords thrown in for affect. They do a respectable job on Washington Phillips’ “What Are They Doing In Heaven Today,” catching the old gospel sound. Here, they use an autoharp to catch the Dolceola sound that accompanied Phillips. Very few American old-time bands can sing like these guys.

While their “Down South Blues” will hardly make you want to give up your Dock Boggs recordings, it may bring Dock to the attention of other musicians who are looking for the true vine where the angst of life is put into musical form. Their fiddle tunes are danceable and infectious, and demonstrate musicianship of this tight band. So not only do they go back to the mountains and tap the Afro-American gospel songbook, but they also take on Cajun music and do a creditable job on “Convict Waltz,” where Fredblad’s fiddle flat nails it.

If you enjoy contemporary old-time music from all corners of the spectrum, or like what bands from a punk background do to traditional music, you’ll find a lot to like here. These guys are having a blast. While they call it bluegrass, we know it is really old-time with no respect for American stuffiness about the two related genres. They have toured the U.S., and one can only hope to cross paths with them one day and see them live. (Rockridge Brothers, Rosenlundgsgatan 30B, 118 53, Stockholm, Sweden, www.rockridgebrothers.com.) RCB

RALPH STANLEY
A MOTHER’S PRAYER
Rebel Records
CD-1840

At age 84, the venerable Ralph Stanley, at least in the cover photo on this stark new gospel collection, looks like a prophet;

a prophet whose unwavering faith is anchored in long-ago childhood days when he worshipped alongside his mother in small, back-country, southern Virginia chapels.

A Mother’s Prayer is comprised of a few traditional gospel numbers (“Come All Ye Tenderhearted,” “Prince Of Peace,” and Blind Willie Johnson’s “John The Revelator”) along with quite a few more contemporary tunes. The latter include the title song (co-written by Ronnie Bowman and Shawn Lane), “Let It Go” penned by Sara Evans and Billy and Terry Smith, “What Kind Of Man,” co-written some years ago by Ralph with Larry Sparks, and “He Suffered For My Reward,” an original contribution from Ralph’s grandson Nathan. Stanley’s son, Ralph II, produced this album and plays rhythm guitar throughout.
Stanley, backed by his stalwart Clinch Mountain Boys, makes this hodge-podge of old and new songs sound seamless. He imbues them all with a haunting tone of ageless rusticity that not only revisits his deep Appalachian roots, but at times even seems to echo with an almost medieval-sounding melancholy. You can hear this vividly in the unremittingly tragic Appalachian ballad, “Come All Ye Tenderhearted,” which is based on an actual event that occurred in the early 1870s. He delivers this and other masterpieces, such as his a cappella rendition of “Prince Of Peace,” in a powerfully unembellished style, born of a simpler and more challenging time when faith had to endure the constant onslaughts of death, poverty, loss, and grief in a harsh, uncertain world.
This definitive gospel collection is further enhanced by some excellent liner notes from music writer/historian Colin Escott, who incisively summons up Stanley’s place in the greater scheme of American gospel music: “The autumnal recordings of Ralph Stanley are among the last links to the fierce confrontationalism of true Appalachian music…[which] stood square-jawed in the face of adversity.” (Rebel Records, P.O. Box 7405, Charlottesville, VA, 22906, www.rebelrecords.com.) BA

TOM MINDTE & JEREMY STEPHENS
RADIO FAVORITES & SACRED SONGS
Patuxent Music
CD-215

Brother duets are the basis of the bluegrass sound. Starting with Bill and Charlie Monroe, who were a part of an already established tradition, we have enjoyed brothers singing together since named Stanley, McReynolds, and Louvin.

There is a long tradition of musical brothers singing together: Reno & Smiley, Paisley and Lundy, Connie and Babe, and now Mindte and Stephens. This is the duo’s second recording, and it surpasses their first for spirit and level of comfort with the material. From the energetic opening cut, “Columbus Stockade,” they set the tone for this great set. The very next cut, “It Rained A Mist” is the surreal duet that was a standard in the repertory of Bob Paisley and Ted Lundy, one of the best old-time bluegrass songs of all time.

Brother duets were a primary sound of the Great Depression. A guitar, a mandolin and two voices in tight harmony filled the radio airwaves early in the morning and at noon-time, when our mostly rural ancestors were getting ready to go to the fields and were inside for the large noon-time meal. The songs are filled with sentimentality and consoling words of faith. There are songs of love like “Sparkling Brown Eyes,” complete with a full range of vocal expression complete with yodels.

These two voices blend to capture the true power of the material. There is a full sound here with just two voices and two instruments. The record quality is top notch not only catching the voices in all of their depth, but also the guitar and mandolin sound, as well. This is highly recommended to all fans of the old style, the way it was once at the core of bluegrass and country music. This is one fine duo, and this is their best recording yet. (Patuxent Music, P.O. Box 572, Rockville, MD 20848, www.pxrec.com.) RCB

MIKE SCOTT
TAKE ME LORD AND USE ME
Rural Rhythm
RCH-2005

Twice in this new gospel CD from banjoist/guitarist/vocalist Mike Scott, he and his guest musicians hit a stretch of songs that raises the level of interest a notch or two.

The first comes from tracks four through six, starting with a swing-driven “Jesus I’ll Never Forget,” a tune that will be familiar to many, among them fans of Doyle Lawson. On this one, Scott trades verses with Vince Gill, while the support band of Jesse Cobb (mandolin), Jason Carter (fiddle), Ferrell Stowe (resonator guitar), and Dennis Crouch (bass) snap the song along. That is followed by a slower, blues-influenced, swing version of the public domain tune “I Love To Praise Him” and a nice rendition of Hank Williams’ “Sing, Sing, Sing.”

The second stretch runs from tracks eight through twelve and includes the swing-inflected classic “Just Like The Bible Says,” a slow emotional “I Can’t Make It Lord Without You,” and “When The Angels Carry Me Home.” It rounds out with “Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus” and “Since I Laid My Burdens Down,” both among the best tracks on the recording. “Tis So Sweet…” hearkens back to those old parlor-style tunes of the nineteenth century. A simple message with an almost sing-song, nursery-like melody, underscored with triple tremolo mandolin from Buck White, Jesse McReynolds, and John Mayberry, it’s hard not to be swept along. It’s even harder not to be swept along by “Since I Laid My Burdens Down” from the great Malvina Reynolds.

Obviously, there will be those who will think that citing one set of gospel tunes above another misses the point (i.e., the message), and largely they are right. However, it is hard to deny when the music and the message come together and rise up as they do in those two stretches of Scott’s overall fine recording. (Rural Rhythm, P.O. Box 660040, Dept. D, Arcadia, CA 91066, www.ruralrhythm.com.) BW

JOSH SLONE AND COAL TOWN
Rural Rhythm
RUR-1074

Josh Slone has ascended, quite rightly, to a national label, and his resulting debut is a good one. It’s not a classic, but is certainly one that should make the bluegrass community notice his talents as a lead singer and front man.

Backing him solidly are current Coal Town banjoist Ollie Rinser, several former members of Coal Town and several guests, including fiddlers Ron Stewart and the late Gerald Evans (his final recording).

Making this record go are the emotionally-flexible and invested vocals of Slone and the expert lyric writing of Mike Wells, who contributes eight songs, each of which makes good use of the vernacular for telling stories in concrete imagery. The potential hit is “Virginia Bound” in which a man is cheating with a Kentucky miner’s wife and has to kill the miner when he comes home early. He’s soon “Virginia Bound” with a posse after him and a lesson learned. To this sordid little tale, Slone brings a fretful mood well in keeping with the killer’s predicament.

On an equally high level is Wells’ “Daddies Don’t Cry.” Fathers worrying when their children are raised by another man is a common reality, and this song captures the situation in all its sorrow, describing poignantly the father driving past his old house or fretting or trying to “make the most of every other weekend.” Here, Slone vocally adopts a feel of frustration and embarrassment and solidifies the song’s mood. Throw in Wells’ portrait of a woman who marries for money, but immediately runs back to her lover (“A Lovin’ Man”), his play-on-words, lament of a cheater whose fibs result in someone else taking his place in bed (“Where I Used To Lie”) and his story of a girl falling for a musician (“Bluegrass And Me”), all appropriately addressed vocally by Slone, and you have a quality debut punctuated with several exceptional songs. (Rural Rhythm, P.O. Box 660040, Dept. D, Arcadia, CA 91066, www.ruralrhythm.com.) BW

VARIOUS ARTISTS
GET LOW – ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE  SOUNDTRACK
Rounder Records
11661-9100-2

Soundtrack recordings can be powerful agents of exposure for films and TV shows.

The 1960s-era James Bond films produced memorable soundtracks, for example, while more recently, the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? sold millions of copies and, just as importantly, millions of theater tickets.

Yet, a soundtrack on its own, without the context of the film to accompany it, needs to be evaluated as music that stands or falls on its own merits. Anyway, what would one expect from a film that presents music from Alison Krauss and the Ink Spots, the SteelDrivers and Bix Beiderbecke? Does that tell us anything about the movie? Probably not in any preview sense, although it might be clearer after viewing.

While the soundtrack to Get Low is perhaps not the most coherent or well-integrated collection of music in recent memory, the individual tracks include some real gems, both new and old. Of particular note are the contributions from the SteelDrivers, “East Virginia Fast” (really “East Virginia Blues”) and “Jesus Come For Me,” showing the gutsy, bluesy sound that has made them one of the most talked-about bands in recent years. Jerry Douglas and Edgar Meyer add some terrific new instrumental interludes that stand perfectly well on their own. And all this is interspersed with classics (“If I Didn’t Care” by the Ink Spots, “My Blue Heaven” by Gene Austin, “I’m Looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover” by Beiderbecke) and a soon-to-be classic, “Lay My Burden Down” from Alison Krauss.

I don’t know that the soundtrack tells me much, other than the fact that there’s an awful lot of great music in Get Low. This is a collection worth seeking out. (Concord Music Group, Inc., 100 N. Crescent Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210, www.concordmusicgroup.com.) AWIII

THE EELPOUT STRINGERS
ROCKIN’ THE BOAT
Root Bass Records
No Number

The Eelpout Stringers are based in Minnesota. They feature Loyd Mitchell on guitar, Karl Burke on bass, Nick Rowse on fiddle, and Craig Evans on banjo.

They have recorded 25 tunes and songs, mostly traditional, aside from “Quecreek” by Julie Miller, “Orphan Train” by Utah Phillips, and “Hobos In The Roundhouse” by Bill Isles. There are a few medleys, such as “Chinquapin Hunting” to “June Apple.”

I have to say that some of the playing is quite far from the versions I know of these tunes. That is not necessarily a bad thing; many common tunes have unusual and interesting settings. However, it is this reviewer’s judgment that the playing ability of the musicians does not meet the demands of the tunes or the standards one would expect. The fiddling is missing the bowing rhythms that one would expect to hear in old-time tunes, and that colors everything I hear. This is music where rhythm should rule, and it does not here.

The banjo playing is somewhat better, but this is a fiddle-led band. The singing also lacks the edge and power one might expect; their rendition of “Orphan Train,” for example, pales by comparison to that of Utah Philips and others who have recorded the song. What I mostly hear in all this music is the out of place beat that disrupts the rhythm, and that is difficult to listen to. (Eelpout Stringers, 14585 Cameo Ave. W., Rosemount, MN 55068, www.eelpoutstringers.com.) SAG

TIM DAVIS AND MATT HISER
FLYING HIGH

No Label
No Number

Flying High is a nice collection of mostly traditional, mostly well-known instrumental tunes.

Tim Davis (banjo) and Matt Hiser (mandolin) are joined by Jonathan Campbell on bass, while Kris Davis and Jonathan Buckner share the guitar duties. Davis and Hiser are also joined by superpickers Wyatt Rice on guitar and Ron Stewart on fiddle. Stewart also produced the recording and the sound quality shows his fine hand

Only the title track is original and, quite frankly, all of the other songs will be familiar to even the most casual bluegrass fan. Davis and Hiser are fine pickers, though, and do justice to the tunes—from warhorses like “Groundspeed,” “John Henry,” “Pike County Breakdown,” “Sally Ann,” and “Salt Creek” to more modern, but still widely-known showpieces like Tony Rice’s “Manzanita” and David Grisman’s near-standard “E.M.D.” All come off nicely, if lacking some of the punch of the originals.

Ron Stewart’s fiddle work absolutely shines through and shows off his always powerful and tasteful approach. The overall result is a pleasing and nicely done collection. (myspace.com/matthewhiser) AWIII