For the past two decades, Gettysburg native Gary Ferguson has been one of the best known songwriters in the bluegrass world, with his songs being recorded by high-profile artists. Ferguson sings his own stuff pretty well, too, having led his own band for much of that time and teaming up over the last few years with Sally Love to form one of the more effective male-female vocal combinations in any branch of folk music. After playing with the Gibson Brothers for several years, upstate New York's resophonic master Junior Barber has been touring with Ferguson and Love.
With that background, it might be presumed that Stuff That Works would be another one of those "side" projects where a few well-known guests are invited in as a backup bluegrass band for Ferguson and Barber, but the pleasant surprise here is that it's just the two of them throughout, playing a variety of fine and vintage acoustic and resophonic guitars. And, true to the title song, it all really does work well. As a vocalist, Ferguson is a little bit more on the "folky" side of things, and he's wonderful on not only his own songs, but on old standards, as well. His take on "Choices," a big hit for George Jones a few years back, is choice as well.
Barber is primarily known as a Dobro player, but he does his most interesting work here on Hawaiian lap guitar. It may seem like Jerry Douglas gets all the attention these days when it comes to things with slides and resonators, and Junior Barber is one of those highly accomplished artists who doesn't get the recognition he should. With any luck, Stuff That Works will help rectify that. It's not bluegrass, but it is really, really good acoustic music.--
Track List:
1. Stuff That Works
2. Kentucky Boy
3. Dear Sarah
4. Chicken Feet
5. Here I Go Again
6. Choices
7. I've Been All Around This World
8. Give Me The Flowers While I'm Living
9. Wheels Rollin' Round
10. I'll Be All Smiles Tonight
11. That's Alright, That's Ok
12. Last Day at Gettysburg
Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
With that background, it might be presumed that Stuff That Works would be another one of those "side" projects where a few well-known guests are invited in as a backup bluegrass band for Ferguson and Barber, but the pleasant surprise here is that it's just the two of them throughout, playing a variety of fine and vintage acoustic and resophonic guitars. And, true to the title song, it all really does work well. As a vocalist, Ferguson is a little bit more on the "folky" side of things, and he's wonderful on not only his own songs, but on old standards, as well. His take on "Choices," a big hit for George Jones a few years back, is choice as well.
Barber is primarily known as a Dobro player, but he does his most interesting work here on Hawaiian lap guitar. It may seem like Jerry Douglas gets all the attention these days when it comes to things with slides and resonators, and Junior Barber is one of those highly accomplished artists who doesn't get the recognition he should. With any luck, Stuff That Works will help rectify that. It's not bluegrass, but it is really, really good acoustic music.--
Track List:
1. Stuff That Works
2. Kentucky Boy
3. Dear Sarah
4. Chicken Feet
5. Here I Go Again
6. Choices
7. I've Been All Around This World
8. Give Me The Flowers While I'm Living
9. Wheels Rollin' Round
10. I'll Be All Smiles Tonight
11. That's Alright, That's Ok
12. Last Day at Gettysburg
Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
- FOLK: Traditional Folk
- COUNTRY: Bluegrass
- TYPE: ACOUSTIC