By Bev Williams

TWELVE SELF-PENNED tracks with each giving the lie the theory that bluegrass is all '100 mile an hour stuff'. But Oh! The taste! There isn't a bad track to be found and there aren't many discs you can say that about.

To start, Do You Ever Dream Of Me sounds just like some of the more mellow Amazing Rhythm Aces, with lovely harmonies and neat picking. Track three, Last Call, introduces Dobro (or perhaps just a generic resophonic guitar... ) and recalls the days of Hank (there's only one and his name is Williams) and Red Foley being on every juke box in every bar when they were top of the pops. Next comes Rufus Taylor, which really shows how tasty that instrument is. If you are into Dobros it's worth buying the album for this track alone. Well done to Fred Travers (ex Seldom Scene).

So, we've had love songs, a bar room song and a personal remembrance song. Now for the river song. Old River introduces a piano and I don't find it out of place. It's not purist but, like everything else on the album, it is so tasteful that it enhances the overall sound and adds to the enjoyment.

Two more tracks then the God spot, There Is A River. I'm not saying that the album is formulaic but I am saying that it has all the right ingredients; there is a world of difference. Walking Back To Richmond introduces an accordion(!) to the sound and, once again, while not pure it only enhances the feel of this post-American-Civil-War song. I wonder how many homes in America still have a bedroom dedicated to one who lost his/her life in some conflict or other? Like He Was Still There sets out to capture the same feeling but this time post Korean War.

Finally, Auction At The Homplace reflects the days of the depression when small farmers were going broke and having their farms sold out from under them at a forced rate for knockdown prices.

This is the album to play when you get your new girlfriend back to your place, to convince her that it really is a nice music - midnight bluegrass if you like, with a lovely laid-back feel to it. No particular track came out and grabbed me but they are all so well done. My compliments to the engineers at Copper Creek Records, PO Box 3161 Roanoke VA 24015 (write for a free catalogue) and to all the guests who played so well on this album: Emory Lester, Bill Emerson Ronnie Simpkins, Rickie Simpkins, Fred Travers, Mark Newton, Peter Bonta and Steve Spence

Bev Williams, Middleton, Lancs.

CD kindly provided for review by Mike's Country Music Room

28 June 2000