By Charlie Englar
For their fourth studio album, Hold On Me, Spring Creek deliver an excellent mix of free-flowing jamgrass and hard picking traditional bluegrass. Old West-style vocals and smooth and slow tunes are added to the creases, firmly holding the disc together as a cohesive unit.
Staking their claim in the bluegrass hot bed that is Lyons, Colorado, Taylor Sims (guitar), Alex Johnstone (mandolin, fiddle) and Chris Elliott (banjo) have created their first album with upright bassist Danny Booth.
The disc opens with “Mockingbird,” a catchy jaunt that finds the mandolin and banjo making the most pleasant of chitter-chatter.
“C. Bob Swing,” is a glorious bouncing stroll between banjo player Chris Elliott and guest musician Jayme Stone, who rides the twin banjo.
“With Body And Soul” plays like a slow-moving locomotive running the tracks of powerful passion. Alex Johnstone’s mandolin and Elliott’s banjo pluck around Taylor Sims’ guitar while another guest, Gabe Withcher, serenely slides his fiddle with a deep, dark purpose. The opening lyrics, crooning, “See that train come around the bend / to carry the one that I love / her beautiful body is here on Earth / but her soul is up above” are the tone setter.
In between it all, Taylor Sims’ lead vocals, a powerful constant through the disc, are rustic and country enough to make the biggest statement. Hold On Me has the chance to be big because it works for country fans, traditional bluegrass fans and jamgrass fans alike.
springcreekbluegrassband.com
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