Customer Reviews

Life in a Song

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you want a great bluegrass CD for your collection, you have to buy this. It blew me away! Every song is good and Tim sings his heart out ! Get it now!

I have already told every bluegrass listener I know that this cd is definately one to have. These guys are good. Good vocals,good harmony,great picking on all instruments.

Great bluegrass CD. Awesome rendition of Handsome Molly. Douglas Graves is probably my favorite tune though. It's a great CD all the way through though.

Playing Time - 37:24 -- When I reviewed NewFound Road's "Somewhere Between" album (their third) a few years ago, I was convinced that they had the sound to take them to bluegrass stardom. Obviously, Ken Irwin of the reputable Rounder Records label agreed with me and signed them up. Formed in 2001, the band's first few releases were gospel projects, and then they went secular to avoid being limited by musical boundaries and to be able to present the wide variety of music that they love. As with their previous work, NewFound Road still features inspired picking, emotional singing, and powerful material. Besides four of their own originals, songs are drawn from Tim Stafford, Tom T. Hall, Roscoe Reed, David Paich, and others.

NewFound Road's invigorating approach incorporates breathtaking instrumental work with emotionally-evocative vocalizing. It's interesting that band's approach for their fourth overall album was to record live with very little overdubbing. NewFound Road is Tim Shelton (guitar), Randy Barnes (bass), Rob Baker (mandolin) and Junior Williams (banjo). Shelton achieved a fair amount of acclaim with his solo album, I Stand Amazed. Since their last album, bassist Tim Caudill has apparently moved on to other endeavors with Randy Barnes (formerly with Rhonda Vincent) filling the bassman's shoes. Another alumni of Rhonda's band, Baker won a share of the 2001 IBMA Entertainer of the Year award as a member of that group. Williams primarily picks the banjo, but he also plays some guitar on this project. He spent six years touring with The Bishops, a popular southern Gospel group. Guests Jim Van Cleve (fiddle), Rob Ickes (slide or resonator guitar), and Sonya Isaacs (vocals) appear in the sonic kaleidoscope of NewFound Road's overall sound.

"Cold Blue Day" begins the set in a right pert fashion. "Douglas Graves" is an engaging ballad, delivered in storylike fashion without harmony by Shelton, and embellished with the mournful wailing of slide guitar and fiddle. "I Miss You" was also arranged with only solo vocals. Besides just the credits, a few sentences about each song would have been helpful in the CD jacket. A nice refreshing change, Rob Baker's lead vocals deliver feeling in "Handsome Molly" and "In My Sleep." Jr. Williams sings lead for the sentimental "A Picture of Your Mother." However, Sonya Isaac's voice emerges in "Nothing's Missing" as their most compelling vocal collaboration on this album. Proving that they haven't turned their backs on God, the quartet delivers a stimulating a capella rendition of the spiritual "When I Get Home." A barn-burning instrumental, "No Clue" smolders with hot licks as they pick up the tempo for a wild, thrilling ride. Barnes played the bass line fairly straight on Freddy Fender's swinging country classic "Before the Next Teardrop Falls." More of a walking bass line, as well as some of Ickes' resonator guitar, would've energized this choice. Ray Charles' "Leave My Woman Alone" adapts well to bluegrass with its spiritually-tinged harmonies. For a little laid-back attitude, "Houston" is a dreamy song that brings the set to an end.

NewFound Road is a resourceful bunch whose strengths include richly-textured vocals and smart instrumental breaks in a classy repertoire. This project will surely launch NewFound Road to an even higher level of notoriety, and I recommend this album to fans of contemporary bluegrass with a few country and gospel trimmings. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)