Steep Canyon Rangers – Self-Titled
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Posted On November 1, 2004
The Steep Canyon Rangers are among the younger crop of blue-grassers whose vocals sound like they cut their teeth on equal parts James Taylor and Jim & Jesse. Which, of course, they probably did with a bit of newgrass, rock n roll and radio country thrown in for good measure.
An apt comparison would be the Lonesome River Band circa 1999. The Rangers arent nearly as lonesome as Don Rigsby, or as highly polished as Ronnie Bowman, but driving numbers such as Good-bye Bottle Of Whiskey, Kicked Out Of Town and Lucky Streak could have fit nicely on any LRB album from that era.
Instrumentally, these guys are obviously well-schooled in traditional bluegrass. 454 is a duel between banjo player Graham Sharp and fiddler John Garris. (The Rangers dont currently feature a full-time fiddle player, but Garris and Josh Goforth handle all the fiddling on this album and tour regularly with the band.) Southwind spotlights the bright mandolin playing of Michael Guggino, who composed the tune. Lead vocalist Woody Platt contributes the occasional guitar run in workmanlike fashion.
Twelve of these thirteen tracks are original, most written by Sharp. The album opener, Living In The Pane, showcases the smart wordplay of bassist Charles R. Humphrey III: Now Im standing, staring in the window/All I see is rain/Since she left me standing/Looks like Im living in the pane. And Sharps Going On is a quiet gospel waltz that makes the prospect of growing old and dying sound positively hopeful.
