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5.0 out of 5 stars
Jampacked with solid, adroit, inspired playing, October 11, 2004
This review is from: Five & Dime (Audio CD)
"Five & Dime," the debut solo album from AcuTab founder John Lawless features ten original banjo tunes, and three vocal numbers (Twilight, Listen to the Music, Baby Girl) sung by Bill Smith, Warren Amberson, and Kelly Green, respectively. And yes, "Listen to the Music" is a cover of the famous Doobie Brothers song. Other guest musicians include Dewey Peters, Alan Bibey, Herschel Sizemore, Tony Collins, Kenny Smith, Greg Honeycutt, Tim Stafford, Rob Ickes, and Ron Stewart.
Warren Amberson, Kelly Green, Greg Honeycutt, Dewey Peters and John Lawless are members of the band, Acoustic Endeavors. Amberson and Green are both graduates of the bluegrass music program at East Tennessee State University. Acoustic Endeavors' two highly-acclaimed CDs include "Coming Of Age... again" and "Sneak Preview." John Lawless lives in Roanoke where he manages AcuTab Publications, a small business dedicated to producing high quality instructional materials for bluegrass instruments. He started playing and studying the banjo in the 70s.
Lawless picks his crisp Huber banjo with a whole lotta gumption, and his friends provide plenty of flash. The result is an album that gets up and goes at a right pert and snappy pace. Each piece is memorable, whether it be "Guilty Pig" (a banjo/fiddle duet), "None Finer" (a banjo/dobro duet for his fiance), "How R Ya Waltz" (a waltz for banjo) or "Up All Night" (a fiery closing breakdown). It's also enlightening to compare the contrasting mandolin styles of Alan Bibey and Herschel Sizemore.
John Lawless covers a lot of ground on this project, and his skillful banjo-picking is always kept in the forefront. With nimble firework fingers, John demonstrates a cleverness that is innovative and takes risks in his contemporary music without any of the usual antics or stereotypes that some 5-string players are tempted to employ. "Five & Dime" is jampacked with solid, adroit, inspired playing without any grandstanding, despite the all-star guest list. The CD includes banjo tabs for all the tunes, as well as an interactive Copper Creek Record catalog. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)
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