Author: Steven Stone

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 (bass), Chris Wade (banjo), Asa Gravley (guitar), Jacob Joines (dobro) and Webb on lead vocals, guitar, and mandolin. The band combines youthful energy with professional polish.

Here, we get fully orchestrated version of “Kings of Orebank,” along with 11 other songs. Although Webb is an accomplished songwriter whose work has been recorded by Lou Reid and the Lonesome River Band, others wrote the songs on Bloodline. Highlight covers include “The Kings of Orebank” and a version of Stanley Johnson’s “Big Black Train,” which features fine dobro solos by Tyler Kirkpatrick. The title tune, written by Larry Cordle and Connie Leigh, highlights Webb’s arresting lead vocals and precision mandolin licks. Overall, Webb’s band sounds more like contemporary acts such as Blue Highway than traditional groups like Del McCoury. While not as tightly wound as Flamekeeper or Rhonda Vincent’s groups, Webb’ is tight, tuneful, and worthy of a place in your bluegrass library.

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This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’11 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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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 Rodger on slide guitar, Alex Hargreaves, Brittany Haas, and Darol Anger on fiddles.

The music on Blossoms isn’t strictly bluegrass. Instead, it’s a celebration of diversity with spirituals such as “How Can I Keep From Singing,” followed by folkier songs such as Kate McLeod’s “Lark in The Morning.” Lewis’ original songs go from winsome ballads such as “Chains of Letters” to Caribbean-flavored rap songs like “Cool Your Jets,” which features “Car Talk” brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi contributing spoken parts. In between, are the dual fiddle instrumental “Sophie’s House” and an a capella rendition of “Return to the Fire.”

Blossoms serves as a wonderful introduction for new Lewis fans and a big ol’ hug for long-timers.

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This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’11 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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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 Mike Auldridge, and veteran first-call guitarist Richard Bennett.

Brace and Cooper are not only fine singers, but excellent songwriters as well. Here, you’ll hear three Cooper and three Brace originals along with tunes from Herb Pedersen, Tom T. Hall, Jon Byrd, and John Hartford. “I Wish I had Our Time Again” opens with a perfect dobro kicker from Auldridge before Green’s pedal-steel takes over. The tune’s melancholy lyrics gradually convert its snappy melody from joy to regret. On the Herb Pederson classic, “Wait a Minute,” country superstar Kenny Chesney joins Brace and Cooper to form rocksolid three-part leads.

The duo’s style is closer to folk than country, and they deliver songs straight, with little in the way of the usual country vocal mannerisms or ornamentation; if Mary Chapin Carpenter is country, so are Brace and Cooper.

This article originally appeared in VG’s Feb. ’11 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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 this first solo release isn’t that far afield from his regular gig.

The musicians are different (except for one cut which features Grisman on mandolin) with Domenic Leslie (mandolin), Alex Hargreaves (fiddle), Paul Kowart (bass), and Jayme Stone

(banjo). Stone also serves as coproducer. How does Gordy’s music differ from Grisman’s? He tends toward a more-lyrical, more-melody-driven approach compared with Grisman’s rhythmic/groove-oriented tunes. Also, Gordy’s arrangements are more straightforward theme-thenvariations rather than riffs.

Older jazz buffs will especially enjoy Gordy’s modern, lyrical approach.

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This article originally appeared in VG’s Oct. ’10 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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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 Jacket, Todd Snider, Lucinda Williams, Nanci Griffith, Sarah Jarosz with Black Prairie, and the Bares. The senior Bare makes an excellent producer, given his history with Silverstein.

Highlights include Black’s version of “The Cover of the Rolling Stone.” The heavy metal guitar tones raise the raucousness level. Other prime cuts include John Prine’s rendition of “This Guitar is For Sale,” made contemporary with a spartan arrangement. “The Ballad of Lucy Jordan” performed by Lucinda Williams has vocals almost as haggard as Maryanne Faithfull’s on the original.

The most daunting cover is “A Boy Named Sue.” Johnny Cash’s original is definitive, but Todd Snider’s is more than listenable – and believable. “Queen of the Silver Dollar,” performed by Sarah Jarosz with Black Prairie, brings a gothic approach that turns it from a bar-room rollick to a twilight-tinged cautionary tale. Finally, there’s Andrew Bird’s take on the title tune; his processed vocals combined with fingerpicked acoustic guitar and a synthesizer string section is weird, cute, strange, and very much something Silverstein would like if he was alive today.

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This article originally appeared in VG’s Oct. ’10 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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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 is musical flow. His tunes speed up and slow down with irregular regularity.

Like Fahey, Engelhardt tunes his 12-string down several steps and is rewarded by a huge pianistic sonority he utilizes to its fullest in tunes such as “Let The River Answer.” Some tunes have several different rhythms and seemingly divergent parts that form an impressionistic commentary on time and melodic structure. Yep, Mr. Engelhardt loves to crawl out on musical limbs, then jump from one to another without falling.

The recording on Perpendicular Worlds is brutally honest, with every finger sliding on strings faithfully captured, along with foot taps, moans, groans, and other spurious aural information. It ain’t slick, but it’s real – almost to the point of distraction. If you get a kick out of music that has some degree of odd mystery coupled with personal and idiosyncratic passion, Toulouse Engelhardt’s latest should be on your must audition list.

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This article originally appeared in VG’s Oct. ’10 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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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 playing mandolin and guitar with Lester Flatt. He stayed with Flatt until 1979, when Flatt passed away. Stuart then joined legendary fiddler Vassar Clements, playing on sessions with Doc and Merle Watson, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and Billie Joel. In 1980, Stuart met Johnny Cash, who invited him to join his band. After six years playing guitar with Cash, Stuart signed a solo recording contract with CBS that yielded only one album, Marty Stuart, in 1986. In ’89, Stuart released an album on MCA, the first of four for the label. He also developed his “Marty party” hillbilly rock brand of commercial country that drew heavily from honkytonk and roots music. Since 2000, Stuart has released albums on his own label, Superlatone.

For Stuart, Ghost Train is a return to his roots. Recorded in RCA’s Studio B, it was the site of the first recording session in which he participated, and in the ’50s and ’60s it was used to record all of the label’s A-list pop acts, including Elvis, Homer and Jethro, often under the supervision of RCA’s principal A&R man, Chet Atkins. The album opens with “Branded,” a Stuart original that encapsulates what makes his music special – addictive melodies, hooky lyrics, and of course, hot picking. Joined by his regular band, the Superlatives, which includes Kenny Vaughn on guitar, Harry Stinson on drums, and Paul Martin on bass, Stuart romps through 11 originals supplemented by three covers. His rendition of “Crazy Arms” features steel guitarist Ralph Mooney sharing solos with Stuart and Vaughn, turning it into a twangfest.

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This article originally appeared in VG‘s Nov. ’10 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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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 and principal songwriter Raul Malo has nicely adjusted from the life of a country superstar to that of a simple singer/ songwriter.

On Sinners and Saints, we’re treated to the fruits of his travels. Malo delivers Latin-tinged honkytonk country tunes from dance-hall rave-ups, through Freddie Fenderish tearjerker ballads.
Malo’s first – and still most impressive instrument – is his voice. He has the most wonderful sonorous timbre, sort of like Roy Orbison, but in a baritone range.

Recorded at Ray Benson’s Bismeaux Studios in the heart of Texas, and assisted by Texas Tornado veterans Augie Meyers on keyboards, Shawn Sahm (Doug Sahm’s son) on guitar, and Michael Guerra on accordion, it’s inevitable that this album has a strong Tex-Mex flavor, even on pop/country numbers like “Staying Here.” On the accordion-driven ditty “Superstar,” Malo spins a lurid tale of music biz success and failure amid florid accordion arpeggios and a stomping polka beat. And, sure, there’s a brass section.

Self-produced, Sinners and Saints sounds as lush as any mainstream Nashville release. Actually, it sounds better. On the last song, “Hammer and a Nail,” the soundstage is huge and there’s an aura around Malo’s twin lead vocals. It sounds like Buddy Holly singing a duet with Roy Orbison. Heavenly.

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This article originally appeared in VG‘s Nov. ’08 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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Contemporary bluegrass comes in many varieties – neo-trad bands such as Del McCoury or Open Road, Nash-Vegas acts such as Rhonda Vincent or The Grascals, “newgrass” bands such as John Cowan and Sam Bush, Jam/rock/bluegrass bands like Drew Emmitt/Nershi or the Avett Brothers, and grass/jazz groups including David Grisman’s Quintet, Crooked Still, and Psychograss.

Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen don’t f it into those categories ; rather, they combine the energy of a hardcore traditional band with a more modern and contemporary folk-inf luenced sound.

Guitarist Lincoln Meyers and banjo player Mike Munford have clean lyrical styles that augment Solivan’s incisive mandolin. Many of the tunes, such as “Together We’ll Fly,” feature three-part instrumental breaks that require absolute precision and melodic efficacy. On the instrumental “Line Drive,” Solivan, Munford, and Meyers each take multiple solos, and every solo is a little gem. Unlike young players who try to dazzle with tirades of triplets, the members of Dirty Kitchen contribute clean, melodic lines instead of a f lurry of notes.

Dirty Kitchen’s vocals and harmonies are nearly as impressive as their instrumental chops. While not quite as drop-dead perfect as, say, Doyle Lawson’s Quicksilver or the original Country Gentlemen, Dirty Kitchen’s singing is clearly not subservient to their picking.

With seven originals among the 12 songs here, Solivan unveils his other skill – songwriting. “Tarred and Feathered,” with its combination of blue, modal, and purposeful rhythm, makes for an instant classic. On “Same Old Love” (which he co-wrote with Charles Tyson) they’ve successfully combined equal parts country toe-stepper and folkie ballad.

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This article originally appeared in VG‘s Dec. ’10 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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