Along the Crooked Road

by Stevie Barr

Overview

First established on record as leader of the bluegrass band No Speed Limit, banjo player Stevie Barr went solo for the 2007 release Along the Crooked Road. It's not a conventional solo album in which the leader plays with a set or nearly set group of musicians, however. Instead, the 21 tracks were recorded with a rotating cast of friends from around his base of Galax, VA. It's not a conventional studio album, either, since -- in the words of Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz in the liner notes -- it was recorded "informally at various locations in contrast to formal or controlled studio settings." Also, while Barr handled banjo on all cuts, and most of them feature vocals, Barr himself doesn't sing, the vocal chores being shared by five of the musicians he used. It's an accomplished, straight-ahead bluegrass album, strongly weighted toward traditional songs. The presence of several different combinations of musicians yields more variety than many traditional bluegrass albums bear, and at times the material gets into gospel, though usually it's in a more standard bluegrass mold. Even the song titled "Viagra Blues," written by Jesse Lovell (who sings and plays guitar on some of the album), turns out to be a fairly unsurprising bluesy instrumental. Some of the other song selections could have been more imaginative, however; it's unlikely many listeners are pining for more versions of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and "Barbara Allen." ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	07/31/2007
Label:	Arhoolie
UPC:	0096297053126
Rank:	211205

Tracks

1. Lonesome Road Blues
2. Fortune
3. He Was Born in Bethlehem
4. Sally Ann
5. Bye Bye Blues
6. It's Sinful to Flirt
7. Old Jimmy Sutton
8. Viagra Blues
9. No Place Like Father's House
10. Uncle Joe
11. Mary in the Wild Moore
12. At Calvary
13. Durang's Hornpipe
14. Barbara Allen
15. Sweet Sunny South
16. Train #1262
17. Dust on the Bible
18. Shane's Reel
19. I Wonder If I Done My Best for Jesus
20. Foggy Mountain Breakdown
21. Leaving Grayson

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Stevie Barr   Primary Artist,Banjo
Donald Hill   Guitar
Tom Barr   Guitar (Bass)
Becky Barr   Guitar
Congregation Of the Independent Baptise Church   Vocals (Background)
Audine Lineberry   Bass (Electric)
Rev. Ted Bartlett   Guitar
Herb Key   Guitar (Bass)
Seteve Spencer Strickland   Mandolin
Martha Spencer   Fiddle
Reid Robertson   Mandolin
Alan Maston   Guitar (Bass)
Katie Golden   Guitar (Bass)
Dennis Hall   Guitar
Rebecca Barr   Vocals,Guitar
Don Hill   Guitar
Eddie Bond   Vocals,Fiddle
Jesse Lovell   Vocals,Guitar
Gerald Anderson   Guitar
Jeff Little   Piano

Technical Credits

Chris Strachwitz   Audio Production,Photography,Liner Notes,Engineer
Stevie Barr   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Jesse Lovell   Composer
Earl Scruggs   Composer
Walter Bailes   Composer