Rate this:

The last month has been tough on me; many things are calling for my attention, and writing has had to fall by the wayside. I have been listening to some great stuff- the new Peter Rowan, the Frank Solivan, some great Steve Forbert music from the past. The Gibson Brothers’ new album They Call It Music is spectacular, and my review of it has been posted at the Lonesome Road Review.

Rate this:

I’ve posted my review of the Tina Adair Band’s new album Born Bad over at Fervor Coulee Bluegrass. I was very impressed with this collection, a set that marks a return to bluegrass recording for Tina Adair and her husband, Tim Dishman. The review can be found here. While researching the piece, I found this concert footage of the band from a couple years back; select songs from Born Bad are featured.

Rate this:

My review of the recent release from John Driskell Hopkins & Balsam Range has been posted to Fervor Coulee Bluegrass. When I first received the album, I had never heard of John Driskell Hopkins, and to date I still don’t believe I’ve heard the Zac Brown Band; I hear they are a big deal. Based on this album, perhaps me should give them a listen. I’ve already checked down Levi Lowrey’s I Confess I Was A Fool based on his collaboration contained within Daybreak.

As always, thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee. Donald

Rate this:

And now for something completely different. After writing a couple mildly negative bluegrass reviews, here is an album that is- in my opinion- close to gosh-darn perfect. The Blue Canyon Boys, who are from Colorado, have recently released their fifth album. Colour me impressed. This link will get you over to the Lonesome Road Review, where Aaron has published my piece.

At least once a month I download from either iTunes or eMusic an album from an artist that I am unfamiliar with. I would suggest you do the same, and seek out this album from the BCB.

Thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee. Donald

Rate this:

My review of the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys recently released second album has been posted to the Lonesome Road Review. There isn’t anything obviously ‘wrong’ with the album; it just isn’t terribly interesting. Or distinctive. Yes, I am mean. And narrow-minded. O, well.

I have no problem with kids playing music, and actually appreciate that they take an active interest in making music. Without kids who learn to play, and enjoy doing so, there wouldn’t be adults making music that I actually am eager to pay for the privilege of listening to. What I don’t want is to pay for the privilege of hearing people learning their craft.

If you’ve ever heard an eleven-year old girl sing “Crazy” or “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under” on a fair stage, you may appreciate the sentiment. Similarly, I don’t need to hear teenagers and pre-teens play a Bill Monroe tune. BTW, the final sentence of the published review, not mine: call it, editor’s prerogative.

Thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee. Donald

Rate this:

My review of Flatt Lonesome’s disappointing debut disc has been posted to Fervor Coulee Bluegrass.

…Although I do like the album cover…

The bluegrass world is pretty insular, and writing negatively about any band’s recording isn’t commonly done. For the most part, I avoid writing negative reviews for any number of reasons including it makes me feel like a heel. Still, sometimes albums come out and appear to be embraced by the bluegrass community, and I just can’t figure out why. This is one of those times, and I felt compelled to stand up and write what I have been thinking since hearing the album a couple weeks back.

As a very independent writer, it is not in my ‘best’ interest to write negative reviews. I rely on publicists, labels, and artists to get albums into my hands. I’ve learned the hard way that if you slag an artist, you get ‘cut off.’ I haven’t received an album directly from Rural Rhythm- or their publicist- since I wrote negatively about one of their most insipid releases five years ago.

And that’s their perogative. I hope that doesn’t happen this time, but I can live better with myself having written honestly than cocooning faint praise within a publicity piece. Chris Jones, always insightful, is touching on this type of writing over at Bluegrass Today. I’ve likely been guitly of doing this type of thing in the past, at least in my days with Bluegrass Now where negative reviews were not permitted; if you wanted to be even a little critical, you had to couch your writing in the manner Jones describes in his first example.

In those days, Bluegrass Now was paying me to write for them, so I had to follow their guidelines. Now, I’m writing for myself, and on a good day, a few hundred others. I owe it to myself, the people who read my writing, and to the artists I write about to do so as honestly and as transparently as possible. I’ve written positively about artists who have personally insulted and offended me, or who have shown up for gigs (apparently) coked to the gills, or who have been less than forthright or honest in their dealings with myself and those I’ve worked with. That is how it should be- when writing, I am doing so from a critical not personal perspective.

I don’t expect to get a thank you note from Flatt Lonesome, or their publicist, for this review. I don’t expect them to even care what I’ve written. That isn’t why I write about roots music. I do hope I guide some readers toward making a more thoughtful decision before laying out ten or fifteen dollars for their album.

As always, thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee. Donald

BTW- I’m listening to Leeroy Stagger’s Radiant Land right now, and dang- it is freaking great!

Rate this:

My review of the latest guitar-heavy, bluegrass album from Richard Bennett has been posted to the Lonesome Road Review. The title track is getting some satellite radio play, and I believe the album is something all bluegrass fans should find appealing. But, I’ve been wrong before.

Rate this:

It is always a good day when a new album from The SteelDrivers is released, and that day comes February 5, 2013. My review of Hammer Down has been posted to Country Standard Time. It is a pretty darned good album, every bit as good as the two which preceded it.

Rate this:

Annie Lou- formerly and still Anne Louise Genest- released Grandma’s Rules For Drinking this past autumn, and while it took its time finding me, I am certainly glad HearthPR helped it make its way east from the coast. My review has been posted over at Fervor Coulee Bluegrass. The album has been featured fairly frequently on CKUA.

As always, thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee. Donald

Rate this:

At Fervor Coulee Bluegrass, I’ve posted my review of Darin and Brooke Aldridge’s new live album recorded at the Red, White, and Bluegrass festival this past July. Aldridge played with the final lineup of the Country Gentlemen until Charlie Waller’s death, and the Circuit Riders after that. The husband and wife duo have had significant chart action with the songs from their first two albums. Thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee. Donald