Search - Bill Mize :: Sugarlands

Sojourn in "Sugarlands"

William L. Dockery | Knoxville, TN United States | 07/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bill Mize's "Sugarlands" is an incredibly fine experience in acoustic music. Mize's playing has a lyricism that can range from robust to delicate. His songs, both covers and original tunes, are reflective without being melancholy or saccharine. Bill's interpretation of "The Water Is Wide" is the version I hear whenever the song comes to mind. In fact, many of the tunes on this CD come to me spontaneously in certain settings. The album title is taken from a once-settled river valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Gatlinburg, Tenn., and Bill's music evokes that locale perfectly. "Sugarlands" is the gift I give to people who want to sample a talented, creative Sevier County (Tenn.) musician besides Dolly Parton. (In the interests of full disclosure, I know both Mize and Parton, grew up in the same town as the former and went to high school with the latter.)"