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Editorial Reviews

Doing their best to live up to their album's title, the six virtuosos who comprise Mountain Heart serve up a tour de force on their Ricky Skaggs–produced sophomore album: transcendent bluegrass pickin', engaging original songs (abetted by a pair of scintillating covers), and stirring vocalizing. Rambunctious ensemble give-and-take doesn't get more incendiary than that showcased on "#6 Barn Dance," fiddle maestro Jim Van Cleve's rousing instrumental, whereas the group hit the other end of the emotional spectrum on "Snapshots and Souvenirs," built of sepia-toned memories sketched by close, velvety harmonizing and framed by a beautiful blend of acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, and fiddle. Union Station alum and mandolinist par excellence Adam Steffey delivers a muted, Dust Bowl–dry vocal on "Twister," as the fiddle and banjo step out of the pack for ominous solos. On an update of Flatt & Scruggs' "My Old Home," the players convey a wanderer's yearnings to return to the security of his roots, highlighted by a star turn from banjo man Barry Abernathy, who does a legend proud with his graceful picking. Closing out on an uplifting note, the six put their voices together in classic southern gospel style on a briskly rendered song of faith, "I Want to Live Beyond the Grave," leaving just enough space for Abernathy to step in with some heaven-sent banjo commentary. Traditionalists in spirit, progressives in sensibility, the fellows in Mountain Heart put it all together on Force of Nature. David McGee, Barnes & Noble

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