Bluegrass, Etc., CD Review
Home Is Where The Heart Is
| THIS LATEST TRICOPOLIS CD BY Bluegrass Etc. is a well thought
out productionthat flows smoothly from start to finish. It provides the listener
with an even mixture of six instrumentals and six vocals.
The instrumentals include a high-steppin’ version of Sweet Georgia Brown, a medley of Bill Monroe’s Roanoke and Wheel Hoss, the traditional, Did You Ever Meet the Devil, Uncle Joe?, Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Backstep, and two Curtis Jones originals, Amelia In Flight and Emerald Isle. While many of these are ‘standards’, you’ll find yourself wanting to listen to these versions again and again. They show off some great pickin’ by some very talented musicians.
Moore also sings lead on Someplace Far Away, a Hal Ketchum tune about a prospector’s dreams that ends, “Be careful what you’re dreamin’, it someday may come true.” I remember hearing Hoyt Axton sing Evangelina years ago. It’s the tale of a “poor man’s daughter ...down in old Mexico” that reminds one of the tales that Marty Robbins used to sing. Wally Barnick brings this one to life.
John Moore, Steve Spurgin, Curtis Jones & Dennis
Caplinger You’ll find yourself wanting more after the last notes of Houndogs Never Die fade out. This song, written by John Hadley, talks of how important it is to keep memories alive. There isn’t a weak track on this recording. It sounded good the first time I heard it, and it only gets better each time it spins. This one’s a keeper. Bluegrass Etc. features John Moore (mandolin, acoustic guitar, bass, lead vocals), Dennis Caplinger (banjo, fiddle, harmony vocals), Curtis Jones (acoustic guitar) and Wally Barnick (bass and lead vocals).
Gerald Cohail (This was to have been reviewed by our own man, but he was taken very ill and could not complete the job)
|
Three
of the vocal selections chosen for this package were written by John Lowell.
Northern Plains, sung by John Moore, is a well-written tale of a pioneer
who returns home to find his wife gone. The pioneer vows, “I’ll
search for her until my dying day.” Wally Barnick sings lead on Sarah
Hogan, a mournful tale of love, outlaws and prairie wolves set in South Dakota.
The title cut, Home Is Where The Heart Is, captures in song the life of a
road musician who’s headed home. This one has John Moore singing lead.
