The Lonesome River Band - Window Of Time (CD)

Throttles open, LRB picks with a lot of steam!

By Joe  Jun 13, 2003

From Virginia, the Lonesome River Band originally formed in 1983 and has included many of the top young players in bluegrass over the years. In 2001, the band underwent a major personnel transition with four out of five members departing. To keep the... band going, banjo-player Sammy Shelor recruited Brandon Rickman (guitar), Jeff Parker (mandolin), Mike Hartgrove (fiddle) and Irl Hees (bass). "Window of Time" is the 2002 debut project of this new LRB lineup, and the band's managed to not lose one iota of momentum. Lead vocals are shared by Rickman (seven cuts) and Parker (five cuts). On two songs (Give The Devil An Inch; Don't Go Out Tonight My Darlin), their harmony arrangements have Rickman grabbing the lead vocal just on the chorus. Bandmember Irl Hees composed "How I Long To Be In The Mountains" and Rickman penned another original, "Rounder's Spirit." Parker and Rickman sound like a couple of brothers on the hard-driving "Weary Day" and the Delmore Brothers' "Honey I'm Ramblin Away." The band's cover of Harley Allen's "Stray Dogs and Alley Cats" actually provides a nice melodic and slower respite from the frenetic openers. There is some impressive, crisp picking throughout, but it's the moderate-tempo'ed "Tune Of A Twenty Dollar Bill" that gets the toes-a-tapping with its banjo hammer-ons and pull-offs. A minor criticism is that their material on this project is largely of similar tempo - fast. The album's only instrumental, Tommy Jackson's "Tomahawk," closes the project with the band members all grabbing a part of the hoedown.This latest LRB configuration likes to pick in high gear. With their throttles wide open, and picking at full steam, this band is hard to stop. They've clearly got their sights set on big things ahead, and a new, exciting chapter is now being written for the Lonesome River Band anthology. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now) Read more Less