Various Bluegrass, Blues and Jazz Albums

Review By Steven Stone
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The Waybacks
Loaded

The Waybacks combine so many divergent elements in their music that pigeonholing them into a particular genre is impossible. Launched in 1999 by guitarist and singer James Nash, most of the songs on Loaded are original material from Nash and mandolin player Warren Hood. Some of their songs have a definite old-timey feeling while others conjure up vintage Stax Volt soul vibe. The late George Carlin described, "good music is what you want to listen to and bad music is everything else." Loaded qualifies as the former.

Enjoyment:

Harmonious Wail
Resist Temptation

Although you couldn't tell from their name, Harmonious Wail play Gypsy Jazz. This Madison, Wisconsin-based group features Maggie Delany-Potthoff on lead vocals, Sims Delany-Pontthoff on mandolin, tenor guitar, and ukulele, and Tom Waselchuk on acoustic guitar. Instead of doing covers of traditional jazz standards, Harmonious Wail specialize in original material combined with unusual covers such as Lou Reed's "Who Loves the Sun."  Their version of this song is WAY better than the original Velvet Underground rendition.

Blue Moon Rising
One Lonely Shadow

This trio of young players displays a thorough schooling in bluegrass and traditional country music. Their six original songs easily rival the covers of tunes by greats such as Bruce Springsteen and Townes Van Zandt. Accompanied by Cody Kilby on guitar and Mike Bubb on acoustic bass, Blue Moon Rising serve up a tasty combination of bluegrass, blues, and country that should captivate anyone with a penchant for roots music.