Iron & Diamonds

Iron & Diamonds

Upstate NY bluegrass ensemble the Gibson Brothers manage to respect the music’s tradition while never shying from a worthwhile musical dare. Considering the high fidelity of these recordings, it’s difficult to accept that these tracks were recorded live to one microphone, the harmonies broadcasting tight and clean, with no instrument dominating the sound. The title track pays tribute to their ancestors, the rugged miners who settled in the Northern Adirondack Mountains near the Canadian border, whose lives knew little celebration beyond the rare baseball game. (“Six days went to the company and one to the man above”). Precise fiddle, mandolin and banjo drive these purebred bluegrass tunes. However, while the group’s sound follows the tradition’s strict contours, the group’s choice of material expands their range with blessed results. Country star Roger Miller’s “A World So Full of Love,” classic rocker Tom Petty’s “Cabin Down Below” and alt-country spokesman Steve Earle’s “The Other Side of Town,” complimented with dobro, all filter in as natural as the group’s originals.

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