Keith Sewell

FLATPICKING GUITAR MAGAZINE / Review Dec 06.



Wunderpicker Keith Sewell’s first solo CD from Skaggs Family Records is truly a debut: every tune is either a Sewell original or a collaboration. Keith (who was recently profiled in the May/June 2005 issue of FGM) has assembled a stellar band for this project, including Andy Leftwich on mandolin and fiddle, Byron House on bass, and Scott Vestal on banjo. His wife Wendy Buckner Sewell provides harmony vocals, and Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, and Ricky Skaggs drop by for a tune or two. So with that kind of musical horsepower, you should expect a lot. And Sewell delivers.

“Duncan Station,” the only instrumental on the CD, demonstrates the flatpicking pedigree that Sewell has earned while working with Skaggs, Bush, Douglas, the Dixie Chicks, and others. But if your mind’s set on a “standard” flatpicking CD, you should take two aspirin now and buckle your seat belt. Tune content ranges from remembrances of youth (“Sawdust Hill”), love gained (“Love is a Journey”), love lost (“Shambles” and “Misery and Happiness”), faith discovered (“Ripples on the Water”) and all points in between. Not only is the songwriting good and the musicianship tight and excellent, but the attention Sewell pays to the recording quality is phenomenal. In every way, Keith Sewell demonstrates the control and direction of his art with this project.

If you are at all interested in where acoustic music is heading, add this CD to your collection.

Tune List: Love is a Journey; Shambles; Sawdust Hill; Ripples on the Water; We Go Around; A Man Out of Me; Duncan Station; Tell Me Again; Love Is; Back Where We Belong; Misery and Happiness; When Love Came Down.



March-April 2006 Issue

BLUEGRASS MUSIC PROFILES.

FOR A FULL BIO, PLEASE VISIT www.keithsewell.com.