IV

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Highly Recommended
Chatham County Line takes a contemporary approach to bluegrass music, and make the music fresh as anything available today. Their latest collection contains a complete package of strong songwriting, instrumentation, and vocal harmonies. Sometimes less really can be more. The album starts off strong with the very catchy "Chip Of A Star", followed by the more traditional "The Carolina", upbeat "Let It Rock", and the pretty love ballad "One More Minute". "Birmingham Jail" is a bit odd. The song itself is wonderful, but they couldn't find a more recent subject for a topical song? The rest of the album continues the pattern with a couple of instrumentals (Clear Blue Sky/Paige) thrown in to show off their skills. Highly recommended for fans of alt-country/Americana.

Great bluegrass-indie crossover set
North Carolina's up-and-coming Chatham County Line is a remarkably innovative band, moving from strength to strength until they arrive someplace entirely new. So here we are, on their fourth album, "IV," which is an alluring bluegrass-newgrass album that crosses over in ways that seem fresh and entirely new... Several songs have pop-tinged arrangements that are surprisingly unique, with sound combinations that I simply haven't heard yet from the decades-old "progressive bluegrass" scene... The results are exhilarating and enchanting. "Chip Of A Star," "The Carolina," "One More Minute..." The album unfolds with one memorable song after another, an admirably diverse and adventurous set. Striking a fine balance between tradition and innovation, CCL have an affinity for the indie-rock camp, but whereas a banjo lick or pedal steel dropped into a rock record has become commonplace, a truegrass band that has a truly alt-y sensibility is a more precious thing altogether. These folks elegantly straddle the line, and while I'll be enjoying this album for quite a while, I'm also looking forward to what comes next. Definitely worth checking out! (DJ Joe Sixpack, Slipcue music reviews)