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Songs:
Montana Gal
Leave Me to Cry
Sing Me a River
Cowtown Boogie
Silent Ground
Dust Devil
Let Me Rest at the End of My Journey
Been Down So Long (It Looks Like Up to Me)
Love in Vain
Silver Plume
Sweetest Flower of My Heart
My Lord
What a Mourning
Roll Call

SUG-CD 3914
Sugar Hill Records
P.O. Box 55300
Durham, NC 27717

Personnel:
Bob Amos - guitar, vocals
Bob Dick - bass, vocals
Ron Lynam - banjo, guitar, vocals
Mike Lantz - mandolin, vocals
guest Ron Stewart - fiddle

Front Range is formerly a Colorado-based bluegrass band that over the years has slowly gained national acclaim for their tight harmonies, tasty instrumentals, and superior songwriting. "Silent Ground" is their fifth album since 1992, and it's similar in style and structure to their previous non-gospel releases. Most of the songs are written by guitarist Bob Amos, and most of the instrumentals written by banjoist Ron Lynam. Bob is known for his haunting melodies and thoughtful lyrics, and Ron for his swing banjo arrangements.

It's hard to pinpoint the style of Front Range. Their vocal harmonies have more of a modern, smooth, loping quality that is a country/bluegrass mix with a bit of cowboy swing thrown in. As they admit in their promo materials "none of us grew up in a cabin", and their songs reflect a broader interpretation of bluegrass themes. Bob cites both Bill Monroe and Gordon Lightfoot as strong influences, and it shows in both their song selection and delivery. If you like your bluegrass relatively straight with a bit of folk and cowboy on the side, you'll like Front Range's latest project.

"Montana Gal" is a traditionally arranged, up-tempo piece that highlights their western background. "Leave Me to Cry" is a classic Monroe-style modal song complete with a punchy mandolin break. "Sing Me a River" is a slower waltz ballad with pretty harmonies, and "Cowtown Boogie" is just what you'd expect - western swing bluegrass style. Their vocal styles are actually better suited for western swing than high lonesomebluegrass, and swing tunes have become a staple of their live performances.

"Silent Ground" is as Bob Amos puts it a "haunting love song/murder ballad/ghost story," and "Dust Devil" is a banjo blitzkrieg with a few minor chords to give it that dark western feeling again. "Let Me Rest at the End of My Journey" is one of the few standards on the album, featuring a brother duet style and fingerstyle guitar backup.

"Been Down So Long" is another haunting misery song that is a Front Range speciality, and "Love In Vain" is an up-tempo Robert Johnson boogie-woogie blues song that they've been doing on stage for years. "Silver Plume" is a cute little bouncy banjo tune with lots of harmonics, and "Sweetest Flower of My Heart" is a medium-tempo love song written for Bob's wife on their 10th anniversary.

"My Lord, What a Mourning," is a old solemn spiritual done in a beautiful a capella (these guys won 1995 IBMA Gospel Recorded Event of the Year just in case you're wondering if they do good gospel). They finish the album with a straight-ahead gospel song called "Roll Call"

One more fine album from one of the more unique groups in contemporary bluegrass. While many top bands are starting to sound the same (by using the same studios, producers, and guest artists), Front Range continues to forge their own path. Ardent traditionalists may be put off by their western style voicings and songs that don't yearn for the "Old Home Far Away", but their instrumentation is classic and powerful. Though their influences are somewhat derived from a different set of hills, it's still darn good.