Spring Creek Bluegrass
Hold On Me
Self-released
4 stars (out of 5)
By Larry Stephens
The band is comprised of Taylor Sims (guitar, vocals), Chris Elliott (banjo, vocals), Dan Booth (bass, vocals) and Alex Johnstone (mandolin, fiddle, vocals). According to the band, their music is “rural and cosmic,” whatever that means.
Joining them on Hold On Me are Gabe Witcher (Punch Brothers) on fiddle, Jayme Stone on banjo and Sally Van Meter on resophonic guitar (and producer of the album).
Their music is a blend of styles and genre: bluegrass, Americana, folk, maybe pop. You can throw in country: one of their better numbers is “Way Back In The Mountains,” written by Merle Haggard. They do a credible job with it and it sounds good with acoustical instruments (I prefer the acoustical version to Merle’s). An apt song for today’s troubled world. They put thier own stamp on “Body and Soul,” pushing it towards a progressive sound that plays well once you get past the strangeness of hearing such a familiar song played a different way. (It’s unfortunate they don’t identify who is singing.)
“C. Bob Swing” delivers on its name, a nice swing, jazzy melody featuring all the instruments in the band. “Mockingbird” is a good, hard driving song though I’m not too sure what the lyrics are all about, somehow tying life’s hard knocks to a mockingbird’s song. While the lyrics are hard to pin down the music is good bluegrass.
While their lyrics may lean toward Americana or folk their instrumental work would be eagerly embraced by any bluegrass crowd. I find myself letting the lyrics of songs like “See Me On” float through my mind without snagging anywhere, forgotten as soon as heard, all the while thinking about the instrumental portion, “boy, I’d like to play that.” If you like bluegrass, listen to “Kimono Cowboy,” a great bluegrass instrumental number from start to finish. “Hold On Me,” written by Sims, is yet another with good instrumental work and the lyrics are okay, reminding me of incorporating Eagles music into a stage show.
Topnotch, acoustic, mostly bluegrass instrumentals, most lyrics leaning away from traditional bluegrass towards progressive/Americana – unless you won’t listen to anything but Dr. Ralph you’ll like this Colorado band.
