Search - Kenny Smith & Amanda :: House Down the Block

Not your Grandpa's Bluegrass - But I bet He'd like it!

Mark J. Fowler | Okinawa, Japan | 09/13/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There were days back in the Bill Monroe era where you didn't HAVE to be a monster musician to get a job with a *name* band. The Monroe archives are full of makeshift bands recruited at the last moment on college campuses, etc. The Superstars deservedly received the Lion's share of accolades, but unless your name was Bill or Lester or Earl, it was probably 20 years before anyone made much of an impact on Bluegrass.



Those days are over. It's not difficult to find pick-up jam sessions with three or four mandolin players who could cover-up even vintage Monroe. The country is full of hotshot flatpickers that would make Lester Flatt choke on his thumbpick. The bar has been raised for vocalists as well. While many rough-hewn singers continue the tradition of the Appalachian crooners of 60 years ago, more of the big names in current Bluegrass have been transformed by the softer, smoother stylings of Tony Rice, Alison Krauss and others.



All of the above being said, Kenny and Amanda Smith have a band that stands right at the top of the hottest contemporary Bluegrass Bands. An essential element to good Bluegrass is something called "Drive". Drive is a difficult thing to describe in words, but an easy thing to feel. Drive involves timing and when a whole band has Drive the musical rhythm seems to propel the music forward in a way that almost has a life of it's own - like an 18 wheeler tearing down a mountain incline with no brakes. Bill Monroe didn't really have Drive until he had Earl Scruggs - then he never was without it. The reason I bring it up is that Kenny Smith has as much drive as any musician in Bluegrass. ALL of his bands have drive in spades and all of the recordings with his wonderful guitar work roll right along at times like a runaway freight train - at other times like a stately wagon.... like the Budweiser Wagon pulled by those magnificent Clydesdales. Anyway - Drive is essential to Bluegrass, and Kenny Smith HAS it.... and passes it on to the whole band.



Amanda Smith has a pleasant voice, and only suffers in comparison to say... Alison Krauss. She is probably the biggest reason for the absolutely scintillating harmony vocals of this band. My favorite cuts are the ones where Kenny takes lead vocals: "I've Traveled Down This Lonesome Road Before", "Stay A Little Longer" (Making the GREAT old Bob Wills Standard come to zesty life.), and "Big Ball in Boston" (Tearing the house down at what sounds like about 180 on your metronome setting.) Ron Inscore plays some absolutely delicious mandolin and Steve Huber plays the 5-string like he were auditioning for Ricky Skaggs' Kentucky Thunder.



The worst cuts on this disc are great state-of-the-art Bluegrass (if you can call anything this good ANY shade of "bad"). The best cuts are among the best recordings ever done in the genre.



Get it."

Versatility has always been a prime vision for the band

J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 01/21/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Come on Amazon!!....List the fine artists (Kenny & Amanda Smith Band) that produced this album. Kenny Smith's rock solid guitar work with the Lonesome River Band from 1995-2001 twice led to his winning the IBMA's "Guitar Player of the Year" award. Smith's solo project, "Studebaker," showcased his songwriting abilities and talented wife's soulful singing. A couple years have now passed since Kenny and Amanda Smith turned plenty of heads with their gem of a bluegrass album, "Slowly but Surely" (Farm Boy FBR-1001), that included band members Ronald Inscore, Jason Moore, Steve Huber, and Ron Stewart. It helped formulate the band's original, contemporary sound characterized by beautiful vocals, expert picking, solid arrangements, excellent repertoire, and high recording quality. It also resulted in the band winning IBMA's 2002 Emerging Artist of the Year award. The band has had a couple personnel changes, but mandolinist Ron Inscore and banjo-player Steve Huber are still with the Smiths. You may remember that Inscore played with Tommy Long and Rick Pardue, and his rhythm chop and engaging breaks are a key part of any band's sound that he is involved with. And, Huber, from Pennsylvania, has played with Bob Paisley & the Southern Grass, Paul Adkins, Lonesome Standard Time, 1946, and Chris Jones & the Night Drivers. In 1997, Steve started a banjo tone ring business and he now builds the Huber line of banjos in Nashville. His solo project entitled "Pullin' Time" was released in 1995. A relative newcomer to the band is bassist Greg Martin, from South Carolina, who has played with Southern Drive and New Vintage. With this latest lineup, I must admit that I do miss the fine bow work of fiddler Ron Stewart. "House Down the Block" is another milestone for the band, as it marks their debut on the well-respected Rebel Records label. Versatility has always been a prime vision for the band, and they appear equally comfortable with up-tempo driving bluegrass ("Big Ball in Boston" or "I Know Where Love Lives"), moderately-paced lyrical pieces ("It's Not the Wind"), ballads ("All She Ever Wants"), western swing ("Stay a Little Longer"), or country ("House Down the Block"). Three songs were written or co-written by Kenny Smith, and Tim Stafford and Becky Buller each contributed a couple to the project. Given the group's desire to cover many musical moods, I wish that at least one of the thirteen tracks would have really slowed things down to show what they can do with a leisurely tear-jerker. On the other hand, this CD has a lot of hustle, with plenty of fiery picking and snappy vocals. Live in concert, I get the feeling that the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band could really raise a ruckus among an audience with their high-geared music. They're full of get-up-and-go, and that's the way I like my bluegrass. With some hot fiddle in the mix, this project would've been an "11" on the scale of one to ten. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)"

An outstanding Bluegrass album

Charlie Weez | Ohio | 04/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fantastic playing and solid singing make this one of the best new albums I've heard in a year. Highly recommended to both the novice Bluegrass listener and the ones with hundreds of classic LPs (like me!)"