Search - The Hunger Mountain Boys :: Blue Ribbon Waltz

A "blue ribbon" follow up.

matthew hickey | NY | 02/23/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The award-winning Hunger Mountain Boys, the toast of the 2003 Mountain Stage songwriting competition for "Nashville Don't Touch My Country Music" (from the CD Fashioned in the Old Way) score again with the new CD Blue Ribbon Waltz. As with the first CD, Teddy Weber and Kip Beacco show an amazing knack for tight harmonies, spot-on arrangements, and period lyrics that hark uncannily back to the Louvins, the Blue Sky Boys, the Monroes, and other "real" country music from the pre-bluegrass era. What is most notable is how well Weber's and Beacco's original songs blend with the few cover songs--you get the feeling that these two somehow travelled several decades forward in a time machine.



The style and humor of the writing and singing might mask the skill of the instrumental work were it not as high as it is. Beacco saws his fiddle and thrashes the mandolin with a heavy but precise hand, capturing perfectly the sound and atmosphere of yesteryear; while Weber's guitar playing is rock solid, understated, and harmonically wise. Weber also picks the dobro on two cuts, channeling Bashful Brother Oswald as few of today's resophonic players do.



Not a weak cut on the whole record, and the dead-clear engineering and production (both courtesy of Off The Beat-n-Track studio) let these two fellers shine--and shine they do.



A "blue ribbon" effort on all fronts."