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BRAND NEW STRINGS
"NO STRINGS ATTACHED"
RURAL RHYTHM RHY 1057
PRODUCED BY STEVE GULLEY
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DAILEY & VINCENT
"DAILEY & VINCENT SING THE STATLER
BROTHERS"
ROUNDER 11661-0640-2
PRODUCED BY JAMIE DAILEY & DARRIN
VINCENT
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BILL EMERSON AND SWEET DIXIE
"SOUTHERN"
RURAL RHYTHM RHY 1053
PRODUCED BY BILL EMERSON, GEORGE
HODGKISS AND SWEET DIXIE
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1. Merry Go Round
2. Rainy Nights And Memories
3. Law Of The Land
4. Caught Up
5. Wheels
6. Living Water
7. The Blues Club
8. High On A Hilltop
9. When My Feet Tough The Street Of Gold
10. I Feel The Same Way Too
11. Who Am I
12. Prayer From Home
13. The First Date
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1. Flowers On The Wall
2. Class Of '57
3. Hello Mary Lou
4. Too Much On My Heart
5. Susan When She Tried
6. I'll Go To My Grave Lovin' You
7. Elizabeth
8. Bed Of Roses
9. Do You Know You Are My Sunshine
10. The Brave Apostles
11. My Only Love
12. Thank You World
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1. Don't Care Anymore
2. Love Reunited
3. Life In The Old Farm Town
4. The Midnight Train
5. Old Coal Town
6. The Black Fox
7. I Can't Fine Your Love Anymore
8. Little Stone Lambs
9. Sometimes The Pleasure's Worth The Pain
10. Grandpa Emory's Banjo
11. Grandma's Tattoos
12. The Lord Will Light The Way
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I have yet to understand why some
Bluegrass bands include an instrument
that is much featured on their
recordings that is not a part of their
line-up. Brand New Strings is a new
group with members that mainly came
out of Open Road. The exception being
Matt Leadbetter who is the son of the
legendary Phil Leadbetter. Back to the
guest musicians. This album features
front a center, the redoubtable Ron
Stewart on fiddle and a great job he
does but it beggars the question...why
not have a fiddle player in the band?
Musically BNS is solid and their
harmonies are on song as one would
expect from guys with their roots in
gospel. This is best shown on the a
capella "Living Water." Steve Gulley's
production is tight and this debut
augers well for the future. I am sure the
festival crowds will love them.
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Now I have to say that normally I shy
away from "tributes" like the plague.
However, here is one of the very few
exceptions to the norm. Jamie & Darrin
don't just play a tribute to the Statlers,
they breathe new life into the songs
that made them famous. Hearing
"Flowers On The Wall," one wonders
why it had never become a staple of
the Bluegrass canon; it sits so well. My
litmus paper is "Elizabeth." I know
Jimmy Fortune and am pleased to call
him a friend and his song is like an
icon. So I am delighted to say that D &
V honor the song and the a capella
ending is pure magic. Cracker Barrel
has given its name to this project and
so it is going to sell like gang busters. It
is almost a shoe-in at award time. (See
Barry McCloud's photographs from the
media conference and performance at
www.mccloudscrowd.com.
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There is one thing that distinguishes
this CD from most Bluegrass releases
and that is the song selection. Bill has
given the normal and often dated and
so therefore irrelevant songs a miss
and opted instead for Country songs.
This gives the album a brightness and
contemporary feeling so often missing
in other Bluegrass Cds. He has
selected songs from Tompall Glaser,
Chris Hillman, Vince Gill, Lionel
Cartwright, Carl Jackson and Marty
Stuart among others. The musicianship
is as expected fine especially Bill's
famed banjo playing. Lead vocals are
shared between Tom Adams and
although we are used to Tom's vocal
ability, Teri comes a very pleasant
surprise. Definitely a keeper.
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