Search - Lynn Morris :: The Bramble & the Rose

One of the finest bluegrass bands around

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 09/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lynn Morris and her band have been overshadowed in recent years by others, particularly Alison Krauss, but Lynn and Marshall are brilliant singers and all the band are talented musicians.On this album, Lynn (lead singer on most tracks) plays clawhammer banjo on The engineers don't wave from the trains anymore (a nostalgic Tom T Hall song remembering steam trains and how much more exciting they were than diesels) - on other tracks she plays rhythm guitar.David McLaughlin plays lead guitar on Hey Porter (the old Johnny Cash song - they love their trains!) - on other tracks he plays mandolin. Tom Adams plays banjo. Stuart Duncan (not a member of the band, but a guest on this album) plays fiddle. Marshall Wilborn sings lead on the two train songs and two songs he wrote himself, My younger days and Heartstrings. He is also the band's bass player.Lynn does a magnificent cover of Coat of many colors. Of course, nobody could ever quite match Dolly's version of this song, which is about a true life experience, but Lynn's version is as good as any other I've heard, including Emmylou's.There are many other excellent songs here, including Love grown cold, a song written by Lynn, plus a fine instrumental written by Tom, Red line to Shady Grove.If you like the bluegrass music of Claire, Rhonda and Alison, you will also enjoy the Lynn Morris band."