Steep Canyon Rangers
Tell The Ones I Love
Reviewed by: Andi Bricklin
So, the last time Steep Canyon Rangers put together an album of songs it ended up winning the Grammy for Bluegrass Album of the Year! Here we are a year later and the band has taken artistic strides into creating a crossover album. This can be a very exciting yet scary concept for a band, since they are stepping outside of their comfort zone, but Steep Canyon Rangers have a lot of tricks up their sleeves and their crossover attempt into pop country is well timed, with the the banjo recently becoming en vogue.
The title track, “Tell The Ones I Love” is a great song filled with brilliant, radio ready hooks that sucks you in immediately and gets you psyched to listen to the whole album. The fun continues on the very next track with “Stand and Deliver” when we get a little sneak peak as to what its like to be in the studio with the Rangers with a little goofing off before the count into the song.
Tell The Ones I Love was recorded by sought after producer and musician, Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan and Levon Helm) in Levon Helm’s Barn in Woodstock, NY. The mission: to capture the excitement and fun of their live shows; an extremely difficult task to achieve. The one thing that really shines through is the expert musicianship by each and every Ranger, which is amazing because this album was recorded with very few overdubs.
Aside from the songs already mentioned, stand out tracks include a “love at first sight” anthem “Camellia”, an epic piece of bluegrass awesomeness “Graveyard Fields”, and “Las Vegas”, which makes you want to listen to the record all over again. So just download the entire album, you’ll thank me when they bring home another Grammy this year.
Rating: Iconic
