Search - Bill Hearne, Bonnie Hearne :: Diamonds in the Rough

Undiscovered Gems!

jwseybold@earthlink.net | Santa Fe, NM | 11/21/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bill and Bonnie now live in Santa Fe, NM where they are considered a local treasure. Each of them is a first-rate soloist in his/her own right and they are marvelously complementary together. This is music you can listen to (and dance to) over and over again. It is both romantic and poignant. It just feels good!"

Should have won a Grammy

Creigh Gordon | Albuquerque | 09/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Star inflation" is a factor on Amazon - understandably enough, people tend to review music that they feel strongly about. This is the first time I've given a recording 5 stars, but "Diamonds In The Rough" is a genuine musical treasure, and could legitimately have been a Grammy winner.



This record came about when Bill and Bonnie Hearne fan Barney Crutchfield offered to finance a first-class studio production of their music. The first step was hiring producer Jim Rooney, who brought together some of the finest session musicians in Austin and Nashville (Lloyd Maines and Roy Huskey, Jr, among many others) to back up Bill and Bonnie, along with old friends Jerry Jeff Walker, Lyle Lovett, Tish Hinojosa, and Nanci Griffith (who dedicated her classic "Other Voices, Other Rooms" in part to "Bill and Bonnie Hearne, who play the best darn folk music I ever heard"). They even got Kris Kristoffersen to do the photography.



What makes this CD so rewarding is not the stellar production or the guest appearances. The true stars of this record are Bill and Bonnie, and the songs they chose. Bill and Bonnie are both worthy of the name of instrumentalists, Bill flat-picking his guitar and Bonnie playing the piano with fine honky-tonk style, but it is their harmonizing, polished over 25 years of performing together, that provides the finest moments on this recording. The session musicians stay mostly in the background. The guest artists, famous as they may be, only sound like old friends trading verses. (The only one who sort of takes over is nephew Michael Hearne on "New Mexico Rain.")



Bill and Bonnie's version of Ian Tyson's "Wild Geese" is simply exceptional. Geese, which are supposed to mate for life, leaving for winter quarters. Bill and Bonnie's voices so different, yet blending so touchingly after many years.



The songs as a group are exceptional. They are real stories about people living through life's joys and struggles. Unlike many current Nashville hits, the people in these songs have their disappointments and failures but they don't boast about them or make them into a joke. A Nashville song may catch your attention on Top 40 radio, as being a reflection of your day, but the songs on "Diamonds In The Rough" are reflections of well-lived lifetimes. These songs are built to last.



In every way, this CD is an absolute gem. Barney Crutchfield, who made his money in fast food, has given us a wonderful gift. May he sell a billion hamburgers.

"

Great folk/country/contemporary/austin city sound

taimac | 05/11/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bill & Bonnie Hearne lived & worked in Austin,Tx for many years. While this is their first label CD, they have performing in clubs in TX & NM for over 20 years. Their work reflects the Austin folk/contemporary sound which the likes of Nancy Griffith and Lyle Lovett made popular. In fact, Griffith, Lovett, Jerry Jeff Walker & Tish Hinojosa appear with Bill & Bonnie on this CD. This CD is a MUST have for anyone who likes to listen to Nancy Griffith, MaryLou Harris and/or other Austin City artists."