Fiddle Fatale

This was fiddler Barbara Lamb's declaration of independence upon her departure from Ranch Romance, an (almost) all-woman retro country swing outfit that had recorded several very fine albums for the Sugar Hill label. Her former bandmates join her here on several tracks that could have easily been included on a Ranch Romance album, including a debonair rendition of the Texas swing classic "Panhandle Rag" and a charming Tex-Mex number titled "So What." Elsewhere on the program she returns to her bluegrass roots, accompanied by banjoist Tony Trischka, guitarist Scott Nygaard, and mandolinist Sam Bush, among others. The program opens with a burning performance of "Sally Goodin," and it also includes a great fiddle and banjo arrangement of "Katy Hill" and a cute fiddle-and-bongo arrangement of "Ducks on the Millpond." She also gets good and countrified in collaboration with Tim O'Brien on "A Good Woman's Love" and on a slow waltz entitled "Montana Glide." The variety works very well; this is an excellent album. ~ Rick Anderson