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Front Country - Sake of the Sound

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Front Country is a six-piece modern bluegrass outfit with a strong-voiced female lead vocalist in the person of Melody Walker and the album begins with "Gospel Train," a real attention-getter where Walker sings the intro acapella; when the fiddle player and the rest of the band start jamming hard, Walker really starts to wail. Walker's voice recalls both early Linda Ronstadt and Dusty Springfield on "Rock Salt & Nails," even though the lush music bed of fiddle and mandolin and lyrics about a shotgun filled with rock salt and nails may have the listener thinking more along the lines of Daisy Duke. Walker's voice is in fact so intoxicating that it's almost a letdown when she takes a break and lets the band jam on instrumental cut "Daysleeper," but soon enough she's back hitting a Rocky Mountain high with "Colorado" and wrapping the album up with the understated "Lovin's for Fools." For fans of groups like the Steep Canyon Rangers and the also female-fronted Run Boy Run.

Order your copy here.

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