Appalachian music reviews

I'm not an expert on Irish songs, or those passed down generationally in the Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountains. I just listen to them because I enjoy their sound, and because they make me feel a little connected to my Irish and Scottish ancestors. I couldn't tell you how many of these songs are "new" and how many are traditional. All I can tell you is that the album is a pure treat. I bought it at my local Celtic music store, upon the recommendation of the owner, and have enjoyed it immensely in the months hence.

NC-born Julee Glaub's voice is very pure and clear, easy to listen to and easy to understand. With these songs, it's her voice that is the main attraction, and it falls into a vocal range that is gentle on the ear. The intrumental accompanyment -- from banjo, fiddle, cello, guitar and bohdran -- is just background (although delightful background), and in no way detracts from or interferes with the songs. The title song "Blue Waltz" is maybe my favorite on the album, and seems more current than some of the others. "The Lone Graveyard" is haunting and spiritual. A few of the songs seem very "traditional" and will have you tapping your toes and imagining yourself in a dim Irish pub somewhere. "Horses and Plow" amused me because it sounds so traditional -- the story of a farmer who loves the old ways, and when he dies and goes to heaven wishes for "eternal employment with horses and plow" -- yet the song mentions seeming anachronisms like OPEC.

I definitely recommend Julee Glaub and "Blue Waltz" if you have an affection for this kind of music. It's a surprise treat, and you'll feel as if you know some amazing secret few others know but should.

Playing Time - 51:19 -- Alice Gerrard has assembled a supporting cast of nearly 20 old-time and bluegrass musicians to assist her with first solo album in almost a decade. Brad Leftwich and Alice open the project with a duet, "Calling Me Home." Jody Stecher, Tom Sauber, Kate Brislin, Steven Strauss, and Eric and Suzy Thompson are in on the second track, "Farewell My Home." I believe that liner notes are in error, and Tom Sauber should've been credited with playing banjo on a traditional song he arranged, "Girl of Constant Sorrow."

Alice Gerrard's parents were classically-trained musicians, and she studied piano while growing up. Her first exposure to folk music was at Antioch College in Ohio. In Washington, D.C. Gerrard hung out at the Famous Restaurant and met many musicians like Mike Seeger who introduced her to West Virginian Hazel Dickens who also shared her love for traditional American music. Their influential recording together began with their debut project called "Who's That Knocking" (1965) and recorded for $75 at the First Unitarian Church in Washington (with David Grisman, Lamar Grier, Chubby Wise and Billy Baker). Their second album, "Won't You Come and Sing?" was also recorded in 1965 but wasn't released until 1973. "Get Acquainted Waltz" was released in 1975 and featured accompaniment by Mike Seeger and Tracy Schwartz. Gerrard subsequently recorded two albums with Seeger - "Mike and Alice Seeger in Concert" (1970) and "Mike Seeger and Alice Gerrard" (1980). Her solo debut "Pieces of My Heart" came out in 1994. Since 1987, Gerrard has published The Old Time Herald, a quarterly magazine devoted to the preservation of old-timey music.

On "Calling Me Home: Songs of Love and Loss," Alice draws material from Jean Ritchie, The Louvin Brothers, Bill Monroe, Tony Ellis and Emily Kaitz. Nearly half of the album is her own original material, and she has a knack for writing and reflecting about sad and lonely times. Her affinity for the mournful and melancholy is just a reaffirmation of her great love for the traditional music canon which is large...and lonesome. Her plaintive presentation is free of frills, and that is the passionate beauty of our folk tradition and Alice Gerrard's music. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

More great bluegrass selections culled from the massive Smithsonian-Folkways catalog. Famous performers (Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, The Country Gentlemen), not so famous performers (The Georgia Pals, Half and Half), classic oldies (THE GIRL BEHIND THE BAR, ROVING GAMBLER, FOGGY MOUNTAIN TOP), newer originals (CAROLINA IN THE PINES, MISS FERRIS) are all included. Doc Watson sings and plays a beautiful rendition of SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD, David and Billy Rae Johnson perform a hypnotic BLUE GRASS BREAKDOWN, and Eric Weissberg does an instrumental version of JESSE JAMES - all major highlights here for me. Bluegrass fans will be ecstatic with this release (the same can be said for Volume 1), and at this great price, it would be insane to pass it up. Highly recommended.