So today has been a good Twang Tuesday full of lots of good music! The day started with one of the albums I picked up the other night Lou Reid and Carolina’s current release My Own Set of Rules. You know it’s going to be a good day when you just love the first song that you hear and that’s what happened when I started this album up and heard the first track “Amanda Lynn”. I just thought that the voice sounded right and the pickin’ was great, too. Since then I’ve gone to their website and discovered that “Amanda Lynn” is currently No 1 on the Bluegrass Unlimited Top 30 and the Bluegrass Music Profiles chart for April and was voted Song of the Year by the SPBMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music), not a bad way to start the day at all! And the rest of the album was pretty damn good, too. The album has a lot of standard bluegrass tracks like “She’s More to Be Pitied” , “In Despair” and “Lefthanded Dreamer” a great instrumental “Beat the Train” and several gospel tunes including “It’s Hard to Stumble, when you’re on your knees” and “Over in the Promised Land” the last track ” A Tall Cornstalk” with some great mandolin pickin’ by Lou is probably my favorite track on the CD.
The band calls Union Grove, North Carolina home and consists of:
Lou Reid , mandolin, lead and harmony vocals – (Reid has also been a member of Teh Seldom Scene for the last eighteen years)
Christy Reid, bass guitar, lead and harmony vocals
Shannon Slaughter: guitar, lead and harmony vocals
Trevor Watson: banjo and harmony vocals
and special guest artist: Ron Stewart on fiddle
Like I said I enjoyed this album a lot Reid’s vocals are great and the lyrics are good and the pickin’ is also top self. So overall it gets a 4 out of 5 stars!
After that throughout the day I listened to two other CDs I picked up the other night Norman Blake’s Live at McCabe’s and after listening it one of those “What was I thinking” moments, Why have I not listened to this guy over the years. Absolutely great and I will be searching out more of his work! Then I listened to Jerry Douglas and Peter Rowan’s CD Yonder and what you would expect from two greats. Great dobro picking by Douglas and good vocals and pickin’ by Rowan. I read today that Compass Records has signed Rowan and he is working on a new CD!
Finally as the workday came to an end I made the great find of the day Greensky Bluegrass!! They will be the subject of Twang Tuesday – Part 2!