THE RAILSPLITTERS
The Faster it Goes
Self
The Railsplitters is a bluegrass band made up of three women and two men, and this is their debut album.
The men, banjo player Dusty Rider and mandolinist Peter Sharpe, wrote most of the album’s material. Bassist Leslie Ziegler co-wrote the opener “Tilt-a-Whirl” with Rider. Fiddler Christine King and guitarist Lauren Stovall complete the band. They include two covers, the traditional “Salt Salt Sea” and the country classic “Sweet Little Miss Blue Eyes,” the latter a hidden cut at album’s end.
They are a fine band and play quite well indeed, and they look terrific. But I get an odd feeling listening to their songs that a band like Fleetwood Mac could do these same songs as soft rockers.
While the instrumentation is most definitely bluegrass the style is much closer to Crooked Still than Bill Monroe. The Railsplitters are clearly stretching what is considered bluegrass, and I’d say they seem more Americana than traditional ‘grass. An attractive band both musically and in presentation. Lots of promise here on this very appealing debut.
— Michael Tearson
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