(HVBA) Partnering with an orchestra seems to be the thing to do these days. Bela Fleck did it last year with his concerto, as did the Kruger Brothers, as did Ricky Skaggs […]
A Fiddler’s Holiday, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band
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Claire Lynch, “Hills of Alabam”
(HVBA) While “The Hills of Alabam” is a new release, the material all dates from the early 1980s or thereabouts—it’s a compilation of material from two Front Porch String Band albums (the […]
Mark O’Connor and Rieko Aizawa, “American Classics”
(KDHX) I think it’s probably safe to say that this album won’t appear on many year-end best of 2012 lists this year, likely because it’s really a kind of teaching tool: a […]
Music for the fall: Art Tatum and Ben Webster
(KDHX) The things we desire in the fall—the movies we want to watch, the soups we want to cook, the music we want to hear—are expressions, I think, of what we want […]
Dave Gunning’s “No More Pennies”
(KDHX) Sometimes with new albums, as is the case with David Gunning’s “No More Pennies,” it’s as much about the packaging as it is the music. First the music: David Gunning is […]
The fiddles of Phil Elsworthy
(Penguin Eggs) Make even the slightest adjustment to a violin design—add a string, use a different scroll shape—and you can turn heads, which is true of the work of Phil Elsworthy, an […]
What we talk about when we talk about life
Herbert, Richard Louis Passed away peacefully at McNally House in Grimsby, on Wednesday, September 26, after a long illness. He was in his 72nd year. A longtime resident of Fort Erie, Richard […]
Caroline Herring’s “Camilla”
(KDHX) I’m not certain that this is Herring’s best album to date, and then again I’m not sure that it isn’t. But what I am sure of is that it continues, beautifully, […]
Chris Smither’s “Hundred Dollar Valentine”
(KDHX) As I listen to this new collection, which is just as good as anything he’s done in his career if not better, I can’t help wondering why Smither isn’t better known. […]
Kruger Brothers’ “Best of the Kruger Brothers”
Liner notes from the Kruger Brothers’ 2012 release, Best of the Kruger Brothers “ … and you know you won’t turn back, as you move along the track … ” –“Choices” In […]
Bob Dylan’s “Tempest”
Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’re aware that Bob Dylan released a new album today, and with it the canonization continues. With the reflex of a congregant, Jody Rosen, who reviewed […]
Kelly Joe Phelps “Brother Sinner and the Whale”
(KDHX) So much of the traditional, roots, and country songbook, is about death, family, and God, with likely an over-representation of the latter. Ralph Stanley, both with his brother Carter and later […]
Finding Appalachia
Liner essay for the Kruger Brothers’ CD release Appalachian Concerto The Appalachian Concerto is a very different kind of recording for the Kruger Brothers, and is without any true precedents within […]
Steve Spurgin’s “Folk Remedies”
(KDHX) You never know, but Steve Spurgin’s Folk Remedies might be the best album of 2012. We could probably argue at length, if we wanted to, about what makes good music good. […]
Bela Fleck and the Marcus Roberts Trio “Across the Imaginary Divide”
(KDHX) Bela Fleck is great. Now if only he could swing. “Across the Imaginary Divide” is another foray for Bela Fleck into jazz, coupling with a pianist much as he has done […]
Mike Comptons’ “Rotten Taters”
(KDHX) “Rotten Taters” is, unbelievably, the first solo release from a mandolinist that, despite playing Carnegie Hall and the White House, simply should be more widely known than he is. There are […]
Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein’s “Home from the Mills”
(KDHX) If you’re looking for a hidden gem, “Home from the Mills”–by bluegrass veterans Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein–is it. Both artists, while lesser known, have been in the A-league of bluegrass […]
Punch Brothers’ “Who’s Feeling Young Now?”
Reviewed for KDHX Radio, St. Louis “Who’s Feeling Young Now?” will prove to be one of the most respected, lauded, challenging and influential works of the year. But that doesn’t mean you’ll […]
Noam Pikelny’s “Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail”
For KDHX Radio, St. Louis In “Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail,” his latest solo release, Noam Pikelny has created a moving, playful collection that features so much top-flight playing it […]
Top Discs of 2011
For KDHX Radio, St. Louis Music isn’t a sport though the idea of a top 10 list can make it seem competitive. It isn’t like that, of course, but there are some […]
Top 10 Banjo moments of 2011
Derided in countless jokes, often by the very people that play it, the banjo just might be poised to show us why it really is the greatest instrument ever. Or, at the […]
Sarah Jarosz’s “Follow Me Down”
If Sarah Jarosz is unfamiliar to you, the support she has on her second album, released just shy of her 20th birthday, will ring lots of bells: Bela Fleck, Edgar Myers, Dan […]
Si Kahn then, Si Kahn now
Published in Penguin Eggs, Autumn, 2010. Si Kahn first learned of the power of song—perhaps like so many in the 60s—from his work in activism. In his recent book Creative Community Organizing: […]
