No Apologies

Jim VanCleve | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 9, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rural Rhythm
• ASIN: B000F6ZP9A
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #275,103 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Musical Intensity of Mountain Heart burns on this CD, July 25, 2006

By 

Mark J. Fowler "Let's Play Two!" (Jacksonville, Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: No Apologies (Audio CD)

Jim Van Cleve is a talented fiddler - I knew that from his work with Mountain Heart - but man, oh man! This CD is just plain HOTTER than I was expecting. Mountain Heart in live performance is just remarkable - they absolutely storm the stage with burning Bluegrass that takes your breath away. On recordings they always sounded a little more... subdued. This recording is Mr. Van Cleve's solo debut, and he is helped considerably by his bandmates and a few "special guests" like Ronnie Bowman, Sonya Isaacs, Rob Ickes, Ron Stewart and Bryan Sutton. Adding these superstars to Mountain Heart would be like adding Albert Pujols, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens to the Yankees... gilding the lilly as it were.

Anyway, I received "No Apologies" from Amazon yesterday, and it absolutely burned. I can still smell my singed hair...

If you don't mind my saying - there has always been a slight disconnect in my ears between the "Live" Mountain Heart and the CDs: Live, Mountain Heart absolutely owns the stage, pouring out music that is not only good, but connecting to the audience members at some emotional, visceral level that makes you walk away from a Mountain Heart performance with your heart pounding and head shaking in excitement and wonder. On record the music is still good - make no mistake about it - but it doesn't crackle. "No Apologies" captures both the music AND the excitement in a way that makes this by FAR my leading candidate for "Best Bluegrass Recording" of this year. I'll be surprised if anything else released this year approaches it. Mr. Van Cleve's musical chops are in fine, FINE form. The double-stops on "We Can't Be Darlings" make my hair stand up (that is, the hairs that didn't get burned off by "Wheel Hoss" and "Train 45"). A co-worker just came by while "Scars" was playing to ask who that was...

It's worth mentioning that there is some genre blurring here - several of the cuts are state-of-the-art Bluegrass, but some, like the previously mentioned "Scars" has piano and a country-flavored pop sensibility. If you don't like a little variety in your music.... you're wrong, but you've been warned!

I'm spreading the word: Jim Van Cleve is one of America's great musicians, and this is a great CD.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solo debut from Mountain Heart fiddler, May 12, 2006

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Apologies (Audio CD)

After six years as a co-founding member of Mountain Heart, 26-year-old fiddler VanCleve has stepped front and center to lead his first solo release. Though his Mountain Heart bandmates are on-board, this is clearly VanCleve's record, serving as producer and chief songwriter, and adding lead vocals on several tunes. Beyond his regular mates, he's brought complementary players to the sessions, including guitarists Rob Ickes and Bryan Sutton, banjoist Ron Stewart, and vocalists Ronnie Bowman and Sonya Isaacs. There are plenty of VanCleve's bluegrass roots to be heard here, including tight multipart harmonies and hot-picked instrumentals, but there are also moodier newgrass tunes that diverge from the standard canon to take in country, Celtic, jazz and other influences. This is a rich solo debut from an established group player. 3-3/4 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com]

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Won't Disappoint, May 10, 2006

By 

Steven C. Stokes (Thiensville, Wi United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No Apologies (Audio CD)

Jim Van Cleve best known as the fiddle virtuoso from Mountain Heart offers up a great selection of Blugrass, New Grass, and Americana on this set. It's great to see the individual members of Mountain Heart spread their wings, and here Jim does not disappoint.From the opening number "Nature of the Beast" through the last song "Train 45" Jim deftly applies his musical sleight of hand and gets it right! The title of the albumn " No Appologies" is apt, as there is nothing here the artist should be ashamed of. I can almost close my eyes and feel the spray from "Fall Creek Falls". Jim employs most of the Mountain Heart boys, with special appearances from Rob Ickes of Blue Highway and Sonia Issacs.