I’m just a sucker for bluegrass. I think it’s because besides the fact that guys such as the ones in this band (Tim Stafford/g-voc, Wayne Taylor/b-voc, Shawn Lane/mand-fid-g-voc, Rob Ickes/dobro and Jason Burleson/ban-g-mand) are not only excellent musicians who know how to both play a medly and improvise, but they do what jazz guys USED to do: tell a story. They DO have chops, yet with style, as they show on the pair of instrumentals “Dogtown” and “Funny Farm” which display some nice guitar, fiddle and dobro work mingling together. Tales of the life on the edge as on “The Game” or the solitary life during “Church Bell Wedding Blues” are excellent yarns, and the accompanying rhythms and pickings add to the tension and atmosphere. But, it’s the penetrating thoughts behind the lyrics on “My Last Day in the Mine,” “Just to Have a Job” and on “Hicks’s Farewell” (which contain some harrowing and funereal harmonies) that make you stop, pause and reflect. This is what a good song is supposed to do, and these guys do it right.
Rounder Records