Reviewed by Dave Brassington

Hailing from Canada, the High Bar Gang are a seven piece bluegrass band who are very traditional sounding; in fact upon my first hearing I assumed the guys were from the bluegrass heartland of the American Appalachians! The Gang encompass the bluegrass musical sound with plenty of guitar, bass dobro, mandolin and five-string banjo with plenty of good fiddling. The only concession they make to modernity is an electric bass, not that you would have noticed if you had not seen the photo on the CD cover. They have two fine girl singers in Wendy Bird and Angela Harris and the 14 tracks on this excellent release comprise in the main hardcore bluegrass classics usually associated with the great Bill Monroe, such as "Walking In Jerusalem", several Stanley Brothers gems such as "Angel Band", "Daniel Prayed", the classic "Rank Strangers" and "Mother's Only Sleeping" which Flatt & Scruggs made very popular. Hank Williams' country anthem "I Saw The Light" rounds out an album of high quality bluegrass, with impeccable musicianship and vocals. My only criticism, and it is only a minor gripe, is that I would have liked a little more original material as only two songs "All My Tears" and "Green Pastures In The Sky" were unfamiliar to me. I really look forward to hearing more from this fine group of Canadian musicians.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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