Billy
& Bryn Bright
When I attended the Austin City Limits Music Festival, I thought to myself that something was missing. Sometime between the Austin Jug Band and Nickel Creek's performance, Billy and Bryn Bright should have been on stage. Along with a team of respected musicians, they perform bluegrass with a interesting twist. Actually, I hate to confine their music to bluegrass. You're probably more likely to categorize songs like Masquerade Waltz and Santisima Muerte as jazz than bluegrass even though the instrumentation includes the mandolin, mandola, upright bass, fiddle, and guitar.
Billy (mandolin, mandola) and Bryn (upright bass) were joined by Danny Barnes (banjo), Vassar Clements (fiddle), Eamon McLoughlin (fiddle), Tony Rice (guitar), and Peter Rowan (guitar, mandola) to create the self-titled CD. The collection of songs were all either written or co-written by Billy Bright. The diversity of the songs are a reflection of Billy's talent as a songwriter. All of the tracks are pure instrumentals. I give credit to Billy, Matt Shultz, and Geoff Union for recording, mixing, and producing an album that does not seem over produced, but still sounds polished.
Guillermo and Mandola Smokabola are examples of modern bluegrass at it's best. It's not simple formulary writing. It's truly unique composition with flair. I was impressed with the CD right from the beginning.
I hope this comes across as a compliment, because that's how it's meant. When I listened to the 2nd track on the CD, Vegan In The Woods, and the third, Jerusalem Cafe, it reminded me of the old Andy Griffith show. Every once in a while, there would be an episode where Andy had some reason to head into the hills to speak with some family of hillbillies. Somehow Andy's arrival would spark an impromptu bluegrass jam session. As hokey as it seemed, you couldn't ignore the fact that they had a collection of talented musicians who really knew how to play.
The CD ranges from playful to somber melodies and pure bluegrass to light jazz with a hint of Latin influence. I would encourage you to go to Billy & Bryn's page on Blue Corn Music's website and listen to a few samples. Or, you can take my word. The CD is topnotch. I can't seem to take mine out of my CD player for more than a day. In fact, this CD is likely to be one of the most played in my collection.
Billy & Bryn Bright's label, Blue Corn Music, know what they are doing. This is the 3rd CD that I've heard off the label. The others were Caroline Herring and Ruthie Foster. Although, each of them have a distinctly different sound, they all are grade A talent. So far Blue Corn is 3 for 3.
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