Thumbs up: Old Crow Medicine Show. I like what these guys are doing. I think their songwriting gets a little weak sometimes, but when everything lines up, like it does for their song "Wagon Wheel," it seems like they're really on to something. You can find "Wagon Wheel" on YouTube, and if you haven't heard the song, it's worth a listen. The video has a sort of home-video quality to it that works, but it doesn't really add much to the song--probably because it isn't very original (IMHO).
Thumbs down: Old Crow Medicine Show's banjo players. If you aren't familiar with OCMS, you'll notice that they have two banjo players. If you are familiar with them, you might still not have noticed that they have two banjo players. After listening to a few more of their songs, I'm not sure I understand what these guys are bringing to the sound of the band...other than maybe it's cool to have a banjo player in your band these days (good news for us). And if one banjo is cool, two banjos is twice as cool. Now, maybe these guys can really play--I wouldn't know from listening to some of the band's most popular songs--but I'd like hear more from them.
Afterthought: Looking back on this, I feel like I'm being a little harsh on the band (and if you don't think I was harsh, you should see some of things I decided not to say). But I really do like them, I just think they need to work a little harder on some things to really make it.
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'Banjo Heritage LIVE Q&A' 38 min
'Gibson 1926-1927 TB4' 51 min
'Old banjo photos' 1 hr
