Cedar Hill - New Chapter
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New Chapter (Mountain Fever, 2022)

Cedar Hill

Reviewed by Donald Teplyske

Bluegrass can be complex. It doesn't have to be. Simultaneously, it isn't simple music, and it certainly isn't easy to play. Cedar Hill fits into bluegrass from the most traditional direction. Mandolinist Frank Ray has been leading Cedar Hill for decades, and no matter who is in the band, the sound of the group is solidly traditional. Nothing fancy, nothing pushing the edges. Pure 'grass, the way it should be.

Straight out of the Ozarks, Cedar Hill - Ray, Bill Cross (banjo, Dobro, guitar,) Pete Brown (fiddle), Patti LaFleur (bass) and Harper (guitar) with everyone singing various parts - continue producing their kind of bluegrass. With "New Chapter" the group, fronted by Dalton Harper on lead vocals, are as impactful as ever.

The songs cover the ground bluegrass should: "That Stanley Sound," mothers and the passage of time ("Tend to My Flowers") honky tonkin' consequences ("Number One at the Bottom"), faith ("Are You Born Again") and instrumental love ("This Old Guitar"). The final two mentioned are strong, original numbers. Ray's "Leavin' Egypt" instrumental, previously recorded by the group on "Stories" in 2004, further enlivens the set.

A number of these songs have hit the bluegrass charts including "How Deep Is the Lonesome," "The Art of Love" and "Tend to My Flowers." Start to finish, a memorable and pleasing bluegrass album expertly executed.


CDs by Cedar Hill

New Chapter, 2022


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