Search - Whitehouse :: Whitehouse

Strong cohesive bluegrass presence & togetherness

J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 09/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Playing Time - 34:55 Song List - 1)Blue Eyed Darlin', 2)Cedar Grove, 3)Drifting and Dreaming of You, 4)Cotton Eyed Joe,
5)Mother is Gone, 6)Country Side of Heaven, 7)Don't Hold Your Breath, 8)Rock Bottom, 9)Searching for Yesterday, 10)Who Done It, 11)Uptown Blues, 12)Going to the RacesA band must definitely have hutzpah to subtitle their debut album and introduce themselves as "Bluegrass's New Supergroup." Once we hear White House's self-titled entrée on the bluegrass market, however, we find that they can deservedly claim this supergroup moniker. These five string wizards include Jason Carter, Missy Raines, Larry Stephenson, Charlie Cushman, and David Parmley. Carter, of course, has been the Del McCoury Band's fiddler for over a decade. Bassist Raines was IBMA's Bass Player of the Year for four years running, 1998-2001. A regular Grand Ole Opry guest, mandolinist Larry Stephenson has fronted his own band for 15 years. Cushman started playing with Carl Tipton at the age of 14 and currently appears regularly on the Opry with the Mike Snider Band. Finally, guitarist and former Bluegrass Cardinal David Parmley also has his own band, Continental Divide, and has won several awards over the years. Interestingly, all five band members live in the same town of White House, Tennessee, a suburb north of Nashville. This band is bluegrass music's next sure-fire sensation. This album features a nice selection of songs with Parmley and Stephenson sharing the lead vocal duties. There are older hits such as "Blue Eyed Darlin'" written by Bobby Osborne and Jimmy Martin, "Going to the Races" from Carter Stanley, and "Drifting and Dreaming of You" from Jim and Jesse McReynolds. A favorite classic bluegrass number is Arthur Smith's "Who Done It?" that the Osborne Brothers and Red Allen recorded in 1956. Banjo is primarily in the driver's seat on the instrumental "Cedar Grove" (attributed to Bill Clifton). Another instrumental, which sounds like Carter plays with a cross-tuned fiddle in the arrangement, is "Uptown Blues" from Jimmy Martin and Vernon Derrick. A ripping "Cotton Eyed Joe" adds verses, chorus to the uptempo fiddle tune. The project also features two new songs ("Mother is Gone" and "Rock Bottom") written by the late Randall Hylton. The former, in slower ¾-time, presents a common bluegrass theme of sadness at Mother's passing. The latter is a trite message of breakup driving one to drink. A nice respite is the reflective "Searching for Yesterday," from the pen of Jimmie Helms. Bill Brock's "Country Side of Heaven" deserves considerable airplay as it paints a picture of finding a beautiful place "where the bluegrass music flows." "Don't Hold Your Breath," a cautionary note to leaving one's rambling ways behind, was composed by another White House resident, Robert Gately. And, of course, the music was recorded right there in White House (at Parmley's new Harleigh Hound Sound studios). Missy's husband, Ben Surratt, was the engineer for the project and was as big a contributor as the rest of the band. Lance Leroy also assisted the band with song selection.White House's debut album is more than just another bluegrass supergroup "session" in that the band plays like they've been together for decades with a strong cohesive presence. Besides being neighbors in the same town, the band clearly has considerable togetherness and friendship that have helped draw them closer. It comes through loud and clearly in their substantial traditionally-rooted bluegrass sound. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)"