‘aeonic’ is a greek term for something that endures, a reference to something that has longevity and staying power. whether they chose that title because of the band’s stable lineup and career, or the realm of bluegrass music, or the great balsam mountain range that provides the backbone to their native western north carolina, it doesn’t really matter. this is a great album from a band that i was not previously familiar with. five bluegrass veterans got together in 2007, and this is their ninth album. all of them are ace musicians, and their material runs the gamut from old school bluegrass, to blues tinged ballads, to amped up contemporary newgrass. these guys can play, and their vocals are award winning. they took home top honors from the 2018 international bluegrass music association awards for entertainer of the year, male vocalist, and bass player.

of note on this issue is a double time cover of george harrison’s ‘if i needed someone’, ray lamontagne’s ‘hobo blues’ done in an allman brothers unplugged style, and a paul thorn written ‘angel too soon’, a song about a child that leaves her parents too soon.

keeping an eye on these guys moving forward.

lots of new material coming out in the next few weeks, including new releases from greensky bluegrass, jorma kaokonen and jack casady, tedeschi trucks, hayes carll, and mandolin orange, just to name a few. stay tuned.