Putumayo Bluegrass CD Review and Giveaway

Bluegrass music was pioneered by Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, so named after the Bluegrass State of Kentucky and inspired by the music of Appalachia. Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music with a conglomeration of old-timey mountain music, blues, gospel tunes, jazz, country and folk music. The music is traditionally made up of acoustic stringed instruments: fiddles, guitars, banjos, mandolins, and upright bass. Occasionally you hear other instruments as well like: jug, penny whistle, flute, drums, accordion, harmonica, piano, autoharp, electric guitar, resonator guitar or Dobro and electric versions of other common bluegrass instruments. These additions of instruments make the music more Newgrass than Bluegrass, but still the sound is sweet and reminds me of the good ole country.

The Putumayo Presents Bluegrass album is a collection of great Bluegrass musicians as well as Bluegrass music. I really enjoyed the music on this CD.

Track List and my thoughts:
01 Alison Krauss & Union Station - Every Time You Say Goodbye - (United States)
The vocals of Alison Krauss remind me somewhat of Dolly Parton. She has a purity to her voice that I really like. In Every Time You Say Goodbye there is a lot of plucking and the song has a great beat to it. I love the fiddle part!
02 Railroad Earth - Been Down This Road - (United States)
Railroad Earth give a lonesome mournful quality to Been Down This Road. I love their twangy style.
03 David Grisman and Jerry Garcia - Jackaroo - (United States)
David Grisman and Jerry Garcia don't need introductions, but did you know that Garcia was in the Mother McCreedy's Jug Band before the Grateful Dead even existed?
04 Andrea Zonn with Alison Brown - New Night Dawning - (United States)
I love Zonn's fiddle and her lovely voice and Brown's banjo in New Night Dawning. The two make a great pair.
05 Frank Solivan - Across the Great Divide - (United States)
Frank Solivan has a lot of talent. He plays mandolin, guitar, and fiddle...and he can sing perdy too :)
06 Peter Rowan - Man of Constant Sorrow - (United States)
This song so reminds me of when Soggy Bottom Boys sang this in one of my favorite movies, 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?'. Such a great song :) I love it! Peter Rowan's version of this song has a reggae feel. He actually performed with the master, Bill Monroe, as a Blue Grass Boy and for 3 years was their lead vocalist and guitarist. He also performed with other greats: David Grisman and Jerry Garcia. Joining him on this track are his brothers Christopher and Lorin.
07 James Alan Shelton - Shady Grove - (United States)
Shady Grove is one of the oldest songs in classic Bluegrass and a derivative of the Old English folk song "Matty Groves." I love this love song and its Old English feel. Shelton and his guitar are perfect for its simplicity.
08 Crooked Still - New Railroad - (United States)
Lead vocalist Aoife O'Donovan has an ethereal quality in her voice that makes the Crooked Still's distinct sound. They are a mix of everything that makes up Bluegrass and more. I love that in this song you can actually hear the train coming down the tracks with the different instruments they are using.
09 Seldom Scene - Boots of Spanish Leather - (United States)
Great vocals and instrumentals in this one. I love this cover version of Bob Dylan's classic. This is such a sad ballad of two lovers. In the Seldom Scene version of Boots of Spanish Leather the trio sings the man's part and one guy sings the woman's part. The woman departs to Spain and keeps asking the man if there is something she should bring back to him. All the man wants is for his love to come home to him, but she keeps insisting on something else. Finally, giving up he asks for Spanish boots of Spanish leather. This is sad because she will never return to him. He has to leave her and learn to walk on in his new boots.
10 Uncle Earl - The Last Goodbye - (United States)
Uncle Earl is an all g'Earl band that was formed in 1999. These are a very talented bunch of ladies. Vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist K.C. Groves plays mandolin, guitar and bass. Kristin Andreassen joined in 2003, contributing her original songs in addition to vocals, rhythm guitar, fiddle, ukulele, and clog dancing. The Last Goodbye is also featured on their award winning 2007 album Waterloo, Tennessee.
11 Town Mountain - Diggin’ On The Mountainside - (United States)
Political and Social views bleed through the music of Town Mountain. In Diggin' On The Mountainside you can hear this in the lyrics. This band holds close to the traditional Bluegrass with fiddle, acoustic guitar, mandolin and banjo.
12 Sam Bush - Diamond Joe - (United States)
Sam Bush is a major contributor to Newgrass. He created a label and name for Newgrass within the Bluegrass movement. He's been playing mandolin since he was 11 years old and picked up the fiddle at 13. He is a master of picking.
13 Various Artists - I’ll Fly Away - (United States)
This is one of my favorites on the CD. It is all instrumental with various artists coming together to make up this Bluegrass Gospel song: Scot Vestal is on banjo, Aubrey Haynie on fiddle, Wayne Benson on mandolin, Jeff Autry on guitar, Rob Ickes on resophonic guitar and Mark Schatz on bass.

BUY IT
You can purchase Putumayo Bluegrass on their website for $14.98 or on Amazon.com for $13.99.

WIN IT
Prize: Win a copy of Putumayo Bluegrass.

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Thanks to Thanks to Beth Blenz-Cluc​as of Sugar Mountain PR for sending me product for free to review and letting me giveaway one. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.
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Pick Punch Review and Giveaway

We are a musical family. I have been teaching myself and the kids piano for part of their music homeschool lessons and we all love to sing. Both my husband Brian and I played instruments in high school too. He played the tuba and I played the violin. I would also love to learn to play guitar someday.

We recently got my 10 year old son Jaedan a mandolin for his birthday and he has been loving learning on it so far. He has quickly been learning the chords and some easy songs that he plays by ear. I am going to be trying to find him some mandolin music, but in the meantime enjoy this little video of him strumming his first chords on it. This video was made the day after he received it.



I just cleaned out my purse and my husband cleaned out his wallet and we had a stack of old: credit cards, bank cards, gift cards, insurance cards, ID cards, gym passes, bus passes, and drivers licenses that needed either shredded or destroyed somehow. I saw this great product online for any stringed instrument played with a pick that recycled, reused and re-purposed the very stack of plastic I had at home for an ingenious purpose. I was then sent one to review for free.

The Pick Punch is a great tool for making your own picks. You can buy and use sheets of thin plastic that are made for the very purpose of crafting picks and other things or you can use your own thin plastic that is lying around the house no longer being used for its previous purpose. It is similar to craft punches for scrapbooking, but bigger for punching out guitar picks out of old credit cards, gift cards, plastic bottles, plastic lids, plastic place mats, and other thin plastics. I love how you can flip it over and precisely place the plastic where you want it and see exactly what you are about to punch out. I also love that it comes packaged with a 4 stage sanding block so you can shave the outer edges of the picks smooth if they come out a bit rough. Jaedan and my husband loved punching out picks for Jaedan's mandolin.

The Pick Punch is great for those that misplace picks a lot or just love making handcrafted picks for their instrument. You can get really creative making your own picks. I have seen some created using stamping, image embedding, stenciling, airbrushing, inkjet printing, spray painting, etc. The Pick Punch definitely rocks!

BUY IT
The Pick Punch is great for music lovers and enthusiasts. Wonderful for Father's Day too! It costs $24.95 and comes in two different sizes: standard 351 style picks and Jazz style which is smaller and pointier. You can also buy plastic sheeting, sanding blocks and Stazon ink and stamping products on the Pick Punch website.

WIN IT
Prize: Win a Pick Punch (351 style) of your very own.

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Thanks to Pick Punch for sending me product for free to review and one to give away for free. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

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