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Waxed - Record Review from Issue #68 Mar-Apr 2007

John Starling & Carolina Star

Slidin’ Home (Rebel)

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When you can find a fresh, enticing way to cover the Lowell George/Little Feat warhorse “Willin’”, you’re doing something right. John Starling & Carolina Star — featuring Mike Auldridge and Tom Gray, Starling’s former bandmates in the Seldom Scene — burrow to the song’s plaintive heart without a lot of fuss and bother. In fact, the threesome and their bevy of guest and studio musicians get pretty much everything right on the easygoing Slidin’ Home. Their laid-back approach may not be the most exciting thing in current bluegrass circles, but Starling & Co. are terrific musicians who are as adept at rendering the under¬stated irony of Jimmie Rodgers’ “Waiting For A Train” as they are at turning cynical and short-tempered in “Cold Hard Business”, Roger Rasnake’s snarling swipe at music’s unlovely side. The boys also do the Gram/Emmylou staple “In My Hour Of Darkness” proud, with Harris herself on harmony vocals.

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Originally Featured in Issue #68 Mar-Apr 2007

Cover of Issue #68 Mar-Apr 2007

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