Search - Seldom Scene :: Scene It All

Scene It All is the Seldom Scene's first album since the death of founding member and spiritual leader John Duffey in 1996. The band's 2000 lineup consists of cofounder Ben Eldridge on banjo; Dudley Connell (formerly of the Johnson Mountain Boys) on vocals and guitar; Lou Reid (back for a second stint) on mandolin and vocals; Ronnie Simpkins on bass; and Fred Travers on Dobro and vocals. The program displays the open-minded eclecticism that has characterized the Seldom Scene from the beginning in 1971, with selections ranging from Muddy Waters ("Rollin' and Tumblin') and Chuck Berry ("Nadine") to Bob Dylan ("Boots of Spanish Leather") and Bruce Springsteen ("One Step Up"). Yet the sound is basically straightahead bluegrass, with Connell handling most of the lead vocals and Travers recalling Duffey with his high, lonesome harmonies and former Scenester Mike Auldridge with his clean, spare Dobro playing. Duffy himself makes an irreverent appearance in a hidden track at the end of the album, singing an unrehearsed version of the old George Morgan country hit "From This Moment On." --Rick Mitchell