Though they've been around for over two decades, Tommy Sells and Big Country Bluegrass are one of bluegrass music's best-kept secrets. Their new bluegrass CD, The Boys In Hats and Ties, (review copy courtesy of Rebel Records) presents the perfect opportunity for the uninitiated to discover what fans have known for a long time: This band makes some of the most passionate and invigorating traditional bluegrass around.
With a savvy mix of new songs and favorites from local legends like Dale Morris, Roy McMillan, and the late Cullen Galyean, Big Country Bluegrass makes the traditional sounds of the 1940s and 50s come alive.
Bluegrass Songs From Tom T. Hall and Others
The CD declares its intentions from the start, with the title cut written by Tom T. Hall and his wife, Dixie,. In stunningly evocative detail, the lyrics recall what it was like for the first bluegrass bands -- the gigs in country schoolhouses, the hardships of life on the road during the so-called Bluegrass Depression.
The memories of tough times are mingled with gratitude from the second-generation musicians who learned their craft precisely because pioneering bluegrass bands endured such difficulties. The song ends with a snippet of the bluegrass-style TV/radio jingle for Martha White Flour -- a hint of the better times to come as advertisers helped bluegrass music reach a wider audience.
Banjoist Lynwood Lunsford ignites "Black Mountain Special" by Virgina icon Cullen Galyean. To a second-generation brakeman, the Black Mountain Special is all the romance he'll ever need, even life itself, as Jeff Michael's sweet fiddle work suggests.
Local favorite, Dale Morris, penned "Music for the Soul" which advances the notion that mountain music is a cure for what ails you. When it's this good, Morris is not far wrong. Teresa Sells' good 'n' country lead drives the lyrics home, and her performance on this CD should gain her more attention in bluegrass circles. Her cover of "Foggy Old London" -- a song made famous by Jimmy Martin -- is equally stirring.
The band's beautiful, traditional harmonies put the lonely in "Lonely Old Man" from the pen of bluegrass musician, Roy McMillan. A man recalls the tragedy he left in his wake, when he chose the life of a rambler of his family -- a choice that's caught up with him thanks to time, sad memories, and family ostracism.
The band turns in a fine version Dorsey Dixon's much-covered "Wreck on the Highway," sparked by Jeff Michael's old-timey kickoff. "When whiskey and blood run together" as the lyrics say,physical and spiritual tragedy is the unwelcome result.
The band exercises its instrumental chops on "Prodigal 5," a pure bluegrass instrumental written by dobro player, Tut Taylor. The tune gets a brisk kickoff from Sells, who keeps it bluesy as he swaps some sizzling leads with Lunsford and Michael.
New Bluegrass Music, Traditional Style
Two more instrumentals show off these top-flight pickers to excellent advantage. "Top Hat Ramble" serves as a driving, delightfully twangy showcase for Lunsford, who gets some able assistance from Michael and Tommy Sells. Jeff Michael takes the spotlight for "Rendezvous," a sparkling instrumental of his own composition..
Lynwood Lunsford's thunderous picking kicks off "All the Way to Nothing," but the band's distinctive vocal blend makes the singing instantly memorable. Jeff Michael's reedy vocals might lead some to mistake him for a long-lost baritone-singing brother to Del McCoury, and he is equally effective on "Yesterday I Didn't Know."
With his mellower vocal style, guitarist Johnny Williams takes the lead on "Pages of Time," a cut that also boasts superior instrumental work from Michael and Sells. Williams shines on his clever, radio-friendly composition, "You Don't Have Far to Go," the rueful protest of a man with a too-flirtatious lady friend. Jeff Michael's "I'm Gonna Walk the Streets of Gold," a quartet number in the traditional style, closes the album with a fine exhibition of soulful harmony singing, mountain style.
Tommy Sells and Big Country Bluegrass
For many people, the word "traditional" in the context of bluegrass evokes performances that are more museum pieces than living, breathing bluegrass music. With bluesy, sometimes raucous, virtuosic, and always emotionally truthful performances, Big Country Bluegrass and The Boys In Hats and Ties should dispel that notion for good.
Sources
- Liner notes for The Boys In Hats and Ties by Big Country Bluegrass. Charlottesville, VA. Rebel Records, 2010.
Diane Amov - Bluegrass singer/songwriter and classically-trained flautist who has written on bluegrass and American roots music since 2005.
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