Chris Cairns
Hello Blue
FireHeart Records
Chris Cairns has been a mainstay on the California bluegrass scene for many years. Following several albums with Wild Sage, Cairns founded FireHeart Records in 2003, the same year he released his solo debut. Runaway Train was well-reviewed and garnered considerable bluegrass airplay. Hello Blue will find favor with those who enjoyed Cairns’ previous efforts, and should broaden his fan base.
Cairns’ approach to progressive bluegrass is accessible; his music is immediately recognizable as bluegrass while pushing some edges, stylistically if not lyrically. The title cut of this new disc is illustrative of this point. The lyrics are typical of bluegrass love-lost songs, which isn’t to take anything away from them. The instrumentation is where the true attraction lays. From a spirited Gabe Witcher fiddle kick-off, to the lopping rhythm established by bassist Tom Lee and mandolinist Tom Corbett, the song possesses a welcome brightness often missing in contemporary bluegrass.
“Hold Me My Darlin’” kicks off the album with an up-beat, radio-friendly bluegrass tune. This tune’s momentum is maintained through the disc’s thirty-nine minutes. “Cannonball Run” and “Another Rainy Day,” although very different from each other, individually rival songs on the bluegrass charts. “One Lonely Day” slides straight into honky-tonk country territory with John McFee’s pedal steel wail and Cairns’ ‘tear in my beer’ vocal approach.
While several originals provide the disc with its soul, Cairns also reaches to his influences for inspiration. Earl Scruggs’ “Groundspeed” is enlivened with originality and passion, while Larry Cordle’s and Ronald Scaife’s “Alabama Clay” appears to benefit as much from the Seldom Scene’s take as Garth Brooks’. “Mississippi Sawyer” is taken for a restrained ride, and Carter Stanley’s “Baby Girl” bounces along.
The most fun is contained in Cairns’ witty banjo reworking of the Inspector Gadget theme, “Go Go Gadget Boogie;” this instantly recognizable tune features Joe Craven and David West on mandolin and guitar.
Hello Blue is a welcome addition to the bluegrass landscape.
Various Artists
North to Ontario 2007
tjmccreight@aol.com
As much as those of us in Western Canada hate to admit it, the Central Canadian bluegrass scene is a vibrant one. For the second time, Gene Gouthro and Tom McCreight of Ontario’s Silverbirch band have assembled a fine representation of that province’s various shades of bluegrass.
All but one of the songs are originals written by the Ontario-based musicians. Names familiar to those who have followed Ontario bluegrass are included. The Good Brothers contribute a brilliant little number entitled “Guide Me Back Home,” while the Backwoodsmen do not have to go far to wring emotion from Lorne Buck’s “An Angel Is Waiting.” Bill White and White Pine perform a nice Sheila Calthorpe song “Mom’s Still on the Homestead.”
The Emery Lester Set contributes a tune, as does the amalgam of Central Canadian Bluegrass Instrumentalist Award winners; dubbed the Central Canada All-Stars, the quintet perform a rollicking new instrumental, “The Night Nurse.”
Bluegrass youth is represented by the breathy vocals of Alicia Robicheau (“One and One Makes Three”) and Taylor Aran (“Francis Roy.”)
With memorable contributions from The C-Denny Band, Silverbirch, Pat Moore, Switchback Road, and almost twenty Ontario bluegrass performers, there is a lot to digest within North to Ontario 2007. An ambitious project that is beautifully presented, Gouthro and McCreight should receive well-deserved ‘Atta boys’ for assembling a completely enjoyable collection of bluegrass music.
The Charlie Sizemore Band
Good News
Rounder
Charlie Sizemore, long ago the lead singer for Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys and apparently still Stanley’s favourite, has released his first disc in five years. Good News is a solid bluegrass collection highlighted by several exceptional songs. “The Less That I Drink” contains the classic country sentiment of “the more I don’t want her around.” The album’s singalong standout is “Alison’s Band,” a whimsical but sincere tribute to Ms. Krauss and her compatriots in Union Station; this one has ‘Song of the Year’ all over it.
The band is more than solid, and is comprised of bluegrass veterans. Bassist John Pennell (writer of Alison’s “Too Late to Cry” and “Every Time You Say Goodbye,” and a former member of Union Station) and dobroist Matt DeSpain each contribute an original, and reveal themselves as expert on their instruments. Danny Barnes (formerly of Pine Mountain Railroad, not of the Bad Livers) is as fine a bluegrass mandolinist as one needs to hear, and Wayne Fields has played with The Boys from Indiana and the New South; he is an excellent banjo player, and his talents are all over this brilliant little disc.
This is a rich bluegrass album, one whose treasures not only glitters on first listen but increase in integrity and value the more time one spends with it. Sizemore’s voice needs to be heard. It is smooth and warm, note perfect throughout.
