Many musicians play swing, but few swing with the authenticity of Don Stiernberg, with whom the expression “Dig your well deep” comes to mind. On Swing 220, Stiernberg is joined by Jeff Jenkins on guitar and Rusty Holloway on upright bass. For this session, Jenkins uses a 1949 Epiphone Emperor while Stiernberg plays his ’96 [...]
Darrell Webb’s career began with a stint with the Lonesome River Band, followed by time in J.D. Crowe’s group. He also played on two of Dolly Parton’s bluegrass albums. In the last several years, he played guitar and sang lead for Michael Cleveland’s band, Flamekeeper. In 2009, Webb assembled his own band. With Jeremy Arrowood [...]
Laurie Lewis is a bluegrass pioneer, and her latest release showcases the breadth of her musical talent – singing, songwriting, and playing guitar and fiddle. Lewis enlists the help of longtime musical partner Tom Rozum on mandolin, octave mandolin, and vocals. The roster also includes David Grier, Nina Gerber, and Scott Huffington on guitar, Roy [...]
Eric Brace and Peter Cooper’s label, Red Beet Records, has been busy lately with not one, but two newly released CDs. The first is a duo project uniting Peter Cooper with the legendary pedal steel player, Lloyd Green. The second is called Master Sessions. It features Brace and Cooper with Lloyd Green, pioneering dobro player [...]
Grant Gordy’s thing is acoustic jazz. But unlike most jazz guitarists, his axe of choice isn’t a big ol’ carved archtop, but a dreadnaught-sized flat-top. Gordy still plays with the David Grisman Quartet and tours with his new group made up of the folks who played on the album. In many ways, the music on [...]
Musical comedian Shel Silverstein wrote many songs; some were the melodic and lyrical equivalents of one-liners, but others were gems, as on Twistable Turnable Man. Produced by friend and collaborator Bobby Bare, Sr., with help from his son Bobby Bare, Jr., Twistable Turnable Man features performances by John Prine, Andrew Bird, Kris Kristofferson, My Morning [...]
Acoustic-guitar pioneer John Fahey influenced a generation of fingerpickers, and none sound more like a genuine musical heir than Toulouse Engelhardt This is a solo guitar album, and its tunes, with titles such as “Threnody to Sequoia Sempervirens” are more like musical landscapes. Engelhardt’s sense of rhythm isn’t so much about strict timekeeping as it [...]
Marty Stuart is a musician, cultural historian, collector, photographer, and prodigal son-in-law. All these facets come together on his new album, Ghost Train, a pretty darned brilliant piece of work. For those unfamiliar, Stuart’s curriculum vitae reads like the history of Americana music. His first regular pro gig, at the ripe old age 13, was [...]
Michael Merenda and Ruth Ungar formed The Mammals early this decade, and in 2008 put the band on hiatus so members could pursue other projects. For Michael and Ruth, that side project is Mike + Ruthy. How does Mike + Ruthy’s music differ from The Mammals? First, it’s a more-modern-sounding amalgamation, leaving banjos and fiddles [...]
From the opening trumpet notes, you know Sinners and Saints won’t be your ordinary country CD. The title cut sounds like the end result of a Ventures meeting with Nino Rota at a seaside bar in Cuba, then having them sit to write the title tune for the next Clint Eastwood spaghetti western. Ex-Mavericks front-man [...]
