Dazzling and adventurous new acoustic music flavored with a
J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 11/25/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For more info, see http://www.HickoryProject.com
What do you get when a four-time Florida fiddle champ (Sue Cunningham) and the 1999 national mandolin champ (Anthony Hannigan) team up with banjo wizard David Cavage, experienced guitarist/lead vocalist Danny Shipe, and solid bassist Steve Belcher? You get the revolutionary and exciting Hickory Project, which offers dazzling new acoustic music flavored with a twist of sassy bluegrass.
"Polaris" is the fourth album offering from this Pennsylvania-based group that showcased for the IBMA in 2001. This is an 18-track CD with nearly an hour's worth of appealing arrangements, sizzling licks and evocative vocals. Fourteen of the cuts are originals that clearly indicate the band's members draw inspiration from jazz to classical, bluegrass to folk. This quintet is equally comfortable with high-flying (yet fully controlled) uptempo pieces like their opener, "Icy Roads" and "Round Top" to ballads like John Starling's "He Rode All The Way to Texas" or Catie Curtis' "Troubled Mind". Their bluegrass sensibilities are best portrayed in Hannigan's "Blues Of Your Love" and "Ellie May." Cunningham's virtuostic fiddling shines on her tune entitled "Waltz Of The Morning." The band's title cut and closer, "Polaris" begins with a classical string quartet before serving up a tasty delight of hot Gypsy-like licks. As an added bonus, this CD also includes a short video from behind-the-scenes at their recording session to get to know the players a little better.
The Hickory Project is on the forefront of the contemporary bluegrass movement. They tour nationally and internationally and are poised to make an even bigger name for themselves. This is exciting, adventurous stuff! You'll be hearing a lot more about The Hickory Project. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)
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Track Listings (18) - Disc #1