Tuesday, October 27, 2009

CD Review: Del McCoury Band's ‘Family Circle'


Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Del McCoury Band
FAMILY CIRCLE
Having recently celebrated his 50th year in the business, Del McCoury should be commended for continually testing the boundaries of bluegrass music, a feat that's earned him slots at Bonnaroo and made fans out of Elvis Costello and Björk. Joined by his two sons as well as bass player Alan Bartram and acclaimed fiddler Jason Carter, the septuagenarian acts half his age as he covers songs by Mark Knopfler, Jerry Lee Lewis and other acts not typically associated with the high lonesome sounds of bluegrass.
Knopfler's 'Prairie Wedding' sounds as though it could be a McCoury original, but the most interesting cover on 'Family Circle' is the Charlie Rich-penned 'Break Up,' which was made famous by Jerry Lee Lewis during the golden age of Sun Records. The boys replace Lewis's frenetic piano riffs with sharp acoustic picking as McCoury channels his inner rockabilly singer, accenting his mountain tenor with a few Killeresque vocal theatrics.
It's not all rock-and-roll here...
Read full review in The Washington Post.

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