Search - Mac Martin and the Dixie Travelers :: A Dark Starless Night

Excellent Anthology Of Brilliant, Lesser Heard Bluegrass Act

Todd A. Gracyk | Petaluma, CA USA | 01/07/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I absolutely love this CD!Traditional bluegrass music artist Mac Martin was born William Colleran in 1925 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he still resides. He adopted his stage name in the late 1940s, based on his nickname "Mac" and his "Martin" brand guitar. Mac Martin formed the Dixie Travelers in the mid 1950s. They have toured extensively and have recorded many albums for various labels and are now well represented on CD. This anthology CD features 9 sides made for Rural Rhythm between 1968 and 1971 and 10 sides made for County Records in 1972."A Dark Starless Night" is an excellent collection featuring 3 original compositions (including the title track), a few bluegrass music standards, and a bunch of relatively obscure, wonderful country music songs and instrumentals reworked into bluegrass masterpieces. These include a great piece from Roy Acuff titled "Just To Ease My Worried Mind," 4 fantastic Delmore Brothers covers, "Weary Lonesome Blues" (done as an instrumental), "Lonesome Without You," "This Rambler's Ramblin'," and "Alcatraz Blues;" an upbeat gospel song learned from a Flatt and Scruggs radio show, "I'll Be A Friend To Jesus," and a mournful take on the Bob Wills' song "I Knew The Moment I Lost You." Best of all is the haunting "Sinner Where You Gonna Hide," an old Doc Hopkins composition.This CD features the classic Dixie Travelers lineup. Mac Martin has built a fine reputation for his rock solid, booming rhythm guitar work and his lead singing is quite powerful. Billy Bryant's banjo picking and lead guitar work is simply outstanding. Bob Artis does a nice job on the mandolin and singing tenor. Mike Carson is a solid fiddler and sings the baritone parts. Frank Basista fills out the group on acoustic bass.Bob Artis has written 2 pages of liner notes for "A Dark Starless Night;" he notes that the recordings were made under somewhat primitive conditions, but the sound quality here is surprisingly good (thanks to some fine remastering work by Wes Homner)."