Cedar Hill CD Review
Cedar Hill
Poverty Row
Blue Circle BCR-011
****
New songs, new musicians producing a good time tested, familiar bluegrass sound
Released on Dixie and Tom T Hall’s Blue Circle label, Cedar Hill consist of songwriter / lead vocalist Frank (mandolin) and Lisa Ray (fiddle), Joe Wieneman (rhythm / led guitar), Rob Collins (banjo), Kenny Cantrell (banjo) and Ferrell Stowe (resophonic guitar), where, on combining the finest elements of traditional bluegrass produce a neat and entertaining package.
Among the 12 tracks the listener gets to hear bluegrass musicians showing off their instrumental prowess like only they can on two instrumentals Lisa’s banjo / fiddle driven Whiskers In The Sink and a version of traditional favourite Soldier’s Joy.
Yet, it is the vocals and such quality songs as Broken Angel (Frank), where Lisa joined by Vince Gill, produce as fine a duet as you could wish. Such the recording’s all-round excellence, it wouldn’t be out of place on anyone’s album!
Others of a similar benchmark include Dixie and Tom T’s Poverty Row, where the listener is treated to some classic Hall songwriting; the feeling of struggle and the hope of a better life are told as a girl heads off to the city. Swamped in gracefully fiddle and with Lisa singing a great lead the story unfolds of the girl as she returns, though sadly (in the eyes of her father) in disgrace since she was heavy with child and no father present.
Two other songs feature Hall, one with his wife, Dixie (Big Blue Roses) and his own creation – the heart-tugging It’s Only The Wind, where again Lisa sings a controlled and emotive lead (aided by an array of players featuring resophonic guitar, fiddle, banjo and mandolin) but even it has to take seat to Ronnie Bowman’s eerie Blood Stained Bible.
Set on the Normandy shore in 1944, the character finds himself away from his family, a young child and wife and having to decide the way for them to get through it with dignity and not lose their faith. Love Gone Cold (Johnny Bond) an old favourite with Red Allen has Collins sing a powerful lead, likewise Frank Ray’s Call Me Gone enjoys a similar fate as a rare high lonesome feel develops due to the tight harmonies and superb instrumental (especially the resophonic guitar) work; where the players never miss a beat.
20/20 Vision another to illustrate the quality of lead vocalist Lisa and pickers – the soulful rendering of which leaving an indelible mark. Maurice Hope