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BlueWest Records BW-CD-0100
PO Box 2452
Berkeley, CA 94702
www.truebluegrass.com
©2003

This fine California band is mining the Mother Lode of traditional bluegrass and this album proves they've hit pay dirt! The band features the lead vocals of Del Williams, heir to the Gold Country sound pioneered by his father Vern Willimas, and the musical talents of Ed Neff on fiddle and mandolin, Avram Siegel on banjo and Allison Fisher on bass. The band favors traditional songs from Flatt and Scrugss, Reno and Smiley and the Carter Family but the six songs written by band members are in the same vein. "Sweet Fern" is a Carter Family song, and the group's harmonies blend seamlessly here and in the other songs. Del has a magical way of getting high emotional levels in songs and his performance of Lester Flatt's "Alone and Lonesome" and "Please Come Back Little Pal" show his skill. He also wrote "Years Gone By" and "I'm Comin' Down From the Mountain," both perspectives on life's twists and turns. Ed Neff's skill on fiddle and mandolin make him a popular addition to man y local bands and Avram also adds his considerable banjo skills to Kathy Kallick's Band. Ed and Avram put the instruments in high gear with a rendition of Ed's fiddle tribute to salt air, "Essex" and the two join forces with Ed playing mandolin to Avram's rollicking banjo rolls in "The Rockin' Roll." Allison Fisher anchors all this energy with her steady bass. This debut album is sure to be the first of many to come!