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I am making an attempt at playing ‘catch up;’ over the past month, I have received several wonderful albums from various labels, and just haven’t had the opportunity to focus on my writing to give them the attention they warrant. Receiving even less time have been the albums I’ve purchased over an even longer period of time.

I spent this morning listening to Peter Rowan’s terrific new album, The Old School. One has to love Peter Rowan, not only for what he has done in the past, but for the music he has continued to create as he has slowly become a ‘senior’ member of the bluegrass community. From where I sit, there are few more esoteric characters within bluegrass than Rowan, and no matter what he does, he does it well.

My review of The Old School has been posted over at Fervor Coulee Bluegrass within the Country Standard Time site, right about here. Since I received the album from Compass last month, I’ve likely given it ten or twelve listens, and it just keeps getting better with each play- it is remarkable at how cohesive the album feels, and sounds, given how many hands (and voices) were involved in its execution. Another winner from Compass Records.

As always, thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee. I appreciate you sticking with me. Donald

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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.

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I’ve added a second story to my ongoing series The Story Behind…over at Fervor Coulee Bluegrass, part of the Country Standard Time site. On this final day of March, I share James Reams’ recollections on how he came to use the Barnstormers name. James has posted a trailer for his Pioneers of Bluegrass film which will soon be released on DVD. Those of you who purchased his Troubled Time CD have seen some of the footage already, and I am eagerly awaiting the release of the completed project.

As always, thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee. Donald

 

 

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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

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Over at Fervor Coulee Bluegrass, I’ve posted the first in what I am hoping will be an ongoing series about the origins of bluegrass band names. First up, thanks to the skills of Greg Cahill, is the story behind The Special Consensus, one of bluegrass music’s longest running outfits. The link should get you there.

I’ve been so pleased to watch the accession of The Special C. While they have long been a personal favourite, until the last year they have been less well-known, from my perspective, than they should have been within the wider bluegrass world. Within the piece, I touch on what I believe has made the difference, but one has to admire Greg Cahill’s tenacity and ongoing focus in producing a body of work that should be the envy of later generations of bluegrass bandleaders. That you can hear the group daily on the bluegrass satellite channel is a rather recent and overdue development, especially when one considers the track record of the group.

I hope you enjoy reading about The Special Consensus. Pass the word- I’m looking for other bluegrass bands to feature.

Thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee. Donald

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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!

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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

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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

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Over at Fervor Coulee Bluegrass, I’ve posted my latest raving combined with album review. I look at the Minnesota bluegrass group Monroe Crossing, and consider the lack of critical acclaim I’ve witnessed about a band that I consider increasingly significant within my bluegrass world. Their new album, The Road Has No End, was released in physical form late last year and has its digital release February 1. My column appears here as part of the Country Standard Time site.

Thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee; I hope you found something of interest, something that may inspire you to explore roots music. Donald

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and one acoustiblue album, too.

Over at Fervor Coulee Bluegrass today, I have posted a lengthy piece in which I reflect on six albums released in the past year that I wish I had found time to write about. The link should get you there, as will this one.

The albums are Scott Holstein’s Cold Coal Town, a 2011 album that I didn’t hear until early in 2012, the Kathy Kallick Band’s Time, Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass’ Road Into Town, Bo Isaac’s Dollar, recorded with The Rounders, Old Man Luedecke’s Tender is the Night, and Niall Toner’s Onwards & Upwards. Excellent stuff.