KEEPER OF THE FLAME - RANDY WALLER & THE COUNTRY GENTLEMEN
Since the mid-’50s, the Country Gentlemen have been justly renowned stalwarts of bluegrass. With the death of the foursome’s last remaining founding member, Charlie Waller in 2003, son Randy Waller, who already played a featured role in the band, assembled new musicians fully worthy of carrying on the group’s venerated name. Each is absolutely stunning instrumentally, knowing when to burn (”Working for a Living,” “Mrs. Robinson”) and when to lay back (”Rambling Boy,” Waller’s heart-tugging “Golden Wedding Bands”). And they knock out four-part harmonies like second nature. Waller also proves himself a gifted writer on five of 14 cuts, and one of the finest voices singing bluegrass or country today.
