This follow-up to earlier recordings by
Old & In the Way reunites mandolinist
David Grisman with guitarist
Peter Rowan and fiddler
Vassar Clements (with
Herb Pedersen replacing the late
Jerry Garcia on banjo and guitar and Bryn Bright playing bass in place of the late
John Kahn); the new group was renamed
Old & In the Gray. The music stretches boundaries as much as the earlier band, with a mix of vintage bluegrass and country classics such as
Ira Louvin's "Childish Love" and
Bill Monroe's "On the Old Kentucky Shore," along with more modern pieces like
John Hartford's "Good Old Boys,"
Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho and Lefty," and
Rowan's "Rainmaker." An unusually brisk rendition of
the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women" adds a degree of freshness to a now decades-old song, but the highlight of the session is easily the hilarious "Barefoot Nellie," though both have terrific solos. It's obvious that the musicians had a lot of fun trading vocals and instrumental licks as well as harmonizing throughout the date; the brilliant cover art by Ivan Artucovich (with terrific caricatures of the players) is a nice additional touch to a very rewarding CD. ~ Ken Dryden