Peter Feldmann & The Very Lonesome Boys: Tough and Wild

What happens when you take Kentucky's bluegrass music west of the Continental Divide? Take mountain music to the western mountains yields a unique mix. This is what Peter Feldman and his band have gone. Add a bit of Roy Rogers yodel, a pinch of Buffalo Gals, a cup of Forked Deer and cook it all up into "Tough and Wild".

This album has such an intriguing mix of two styles that it almost evolved into its own style. Call it cowboy grass or bluegrass with a western twist or whatever, this is a fun album to hear. It has enough Texas style fiddle with a firm bass and perky mandolin to keep ya goin'. The guitar and banjo fill the void with a refreshing arrangement that blends perfectly with western culture.

With Peter Feldmann on mandolin, Tom Lee on bass, Mike Dadolson on guitar, David west pickin' banjo and Tommy Marton making the fiddle sing, you end up with five musicians that obviously are having fun and enjoy what they do. From beginning to end, the album is full of surprises. Hang Me comes across as something you would expect to find in an old Kentucky barn dance. The style remains reminiscent of what you would have heard in the early 1900s that represent the west.

The music doesn't have all the flash and tweaks of modern technology and it comes across more like what you would hear around the campfire at a mountain jam. High On a Mountain Top carries the high-lonesome sound down to the valley where it too settles in. Emmylou Harris said on the "Circle Album" that when music gets formal in the studio it loses the "living room" feel. This album brings the living room sound back. The small imperfections that somehow make it seem more personal and less designed and engineered into a mass-public commodity. The album is full of soul and personality. It is a fun album to enjoy and if you get the chance, you can get a feel of the west in southern music.

Added: February 28th 2004
Reviewer: Banjo_Bob
Score:
Related Link: BlueGrass West
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Language: english