Tag: Bluegrass
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Billy Strings, Me and Dad, 2022 on Rounder
Love this album which features Billy Strings and his dad, Terry Barber. It includes a print of artwork Billy did as a child “When I grow up, I want to be a bluegrass player.” Mission accomplished, I’d say. There’s also a great long concert on YouTube live from Traverse City Michigan: My copy, direct from…
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Sturgill Simpson, The Ballad of Dood & Juanita, 2021 on High Top Mountain Records
The seventh studio album from Sturgill Simpson with guest Willie Nelson on “Juanita.” A concept album set in Kentucky during the Civil War, this may be the last album under his own name. I just love Simpson’s approach to music and composition as well as the whole band here, which includes: Sierra Hull, Stuart Duncan,…
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Bill Monroe, Bill Monroe & Friends, 1983 on MCA Records
Bill Monroe sometimes gets called the “Father of Bluegrass” – no doubt he’s a pretty foundational figure and his Blue Grass Boys may be the source of the genre’s name. This is a great collection of later Bill Monroe (he passed in 1996) doing duets with performers who admire him and his legacy. The guesting…
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Sturgill Simpson, Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 2: The Cowboy Arms Sessions, 2020 on High Top Mountain
Follow up to Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1, released a couple of months later. More bluegrass renditions of Simpson’s catalog. The band again includes many well known bluegrass musicians: Stuart Duncan, Sierra Hull, Miles Miller, Mark Howard, Tim O’Brien, Scott Vestal,and Mike Bub. Although there isn’t an explicit recorded-at credit, The Cowboy Arms is Jack Clement’s…
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Sturgill Simpson, Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 (The Butcher Shoppe Sessions), 2020 on High Top Mountain Records
Sturgill Simpson is one of my favorite contemporary artists, who generally gets classified as a Country artist but here breaks out into bluegrass. The Butcher Shoppe is actually a studio in Nashville set up by David Ferguson and John Prine. (There’s also a Nashville studio called The Butcher Shop, operated by Butch Walker). The band…
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Marty Stuart, Busy Bee Cafe, 1982 on Sugar Hill Records
No, that’s not the same Sugar Hill that put out Rapper’s Delight – it’s a folk/bluegrass label out of North Carolina, later merged in Concord and now Rounder. Although Stuart’s recorded output starts in the 80s, he spent years touring with Lester Flatt and in Johnny Cash’s road band. This was his second album, the…
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Billy Strings, Renewal, 2021 on Rounder
I first heard of Billy Strings because he started showing up in YouTube recommended videos next to lots of other performers I follow – sometimes actually duetting with them, other times just at the same festivals or similar stages. Seems like the classic word-of-mouth artist, making it by spending his time on the festival circuit,…
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Alison Krauss & Union Station, Paper Airplane, 2011 on Rounder Records
You really can’t go wrong with anything Alison Krauss touches. Got this one directly from Rounder online. Great versions of Lori McKenna‘s “My Love Follows You Where You Go,” Aoife O’Donnovan‘s “Lay My Burden Down” and Jackson Browne’s “My Opening Farewell” but every song is solid.
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Billy Strings, Home, 2019 on Rounder Records
This was the 4th LP from Billy Strings (the first two with Don Julin) and his first on Rounder – it won Best Bluegrass Album for 2021. I heard about Billy Strings through youtube videos suggested based on other Americana acts – some really strong word-of-mouth based on touring, though I haven’t had a chance…
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Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers, The Long Awaited Album, 2017 on Rounder
Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers, The Long Awaited Album, 2017 on Rounder The third collaborative album (counting the live one) for Steve Martin and Steep Canyon Rangers