CD Review – Laurie Lewis – “Skippin’ and Flyin'”
Posted On November 20, 2011
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Laurie Lewis – Skippin’ and Flyin’
By W.J. Hallock
Laurie Lewis’ new CD, “Skippin’ and Flyin’,” is meant to be, in her own words, “A warm thank you to Big Mon.” A tribute to Bill Monroe for his influence on her music. Bill would be proud…..and Laurie should be proud, also. Her attention to detail in making this “traditional,” straight ahead bluegrass experience certainly exemplifies a continuation of the Bill Monroe blueprint for excellence. “Authentic” is what she wanted, and “authentic” is exactly what she delivered.
From the top down, and the bottom up, Laurie’s imprint on this CD is unmistakable. The time was taken to make the technical side perfect. Laurie has taken her producing AND engineering duties as seriously as she seems to have taken everything she did on this CD.
In her liner notes, Laurie attributes her vocal techniques to Bill Monroe’s way of singing, “playing with the difference between his head voice and his chest voice.” Again….. Bill would be proud.
This is where Tom Rozum, Laurie’s “Right Hand Man,” needs to be introduced. He really stands out as her secret weapon. His harmonies are sprinkled throughout this musical journey. Unobtrusive…. understated…but, vital to the end result of vocal excellence. His harmony with Laurie on “Going Away” is simply beautiful. Tom has also thrown his mandolin expertise into the mix with the tastiest of hot licks AND done all the graphic design for the project. This CD wouldn’t be the same without him.
To wrap this up, Laurie’s fans are going to love this CD, and the next generation of Bluegrass musicians will be trying to emulate her work on “Skippin’ and Flyin‘” in the years to come. And you can be assured of one more thing…… Bill would be proud.
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