I Hear Bluegrass Calling Me

Carolina Blue

2018 - Pinecastle Records.  This is our first introduction to this five-member bluegrass band.  Vocally, they encompass tight and complimentary harmonies.  Instrumentally, they embrace pristine picking that can hold up to the legends.  However, lyrically, is where they are misguided.  The group includes thirteen cuts, that consist of ten original written songs that are quite suspicious.  In today’s music industry, there are two major shortcuts that songwriters take.  The first is when a songwriter will take lyric lines from a well known songs and piece them together to create what they consider an original song.  This style of writing can be considered pirating.  The exception to this rule is if the songwriter is paying homage to a well known singer or songwriter.  We have seen this in tribute songs for Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash.  Nonetheless, when a songwriter plunders lyrics from several well known songs to create their own song, this is called theft. A perfect example of this style of writing is found in  Carolina Blue’s song “Cold, Lonely And Blue” as the song combines several lyric lines from other well known songs.  The second shortcut that we are seeing more often than we should, is what we call trickery.  This is when the writer will seek out a previously recorded song, one that is known, and re-write it using a thesaurus.  The writer will claim that the new version of the song is an original piece.  The perfect example of trickery is found in this band’s song “Glory Bound Train.”  The jewel case states that the song was written by Roy W. Chapman, however, in my research I found a very similar song called “That Glory Bound Train” written and recorded by Mr. Roy Acuff.  The band includes two cuts written by Chapman on this album; both can be classified as parodies or trickery songs.   Another example of a trickery song is found in “Dark Mountainside.”  If you compare this song with Donna Ulisse’s song “The River’s Runnin’ Free,” they both contain a very identical storyline.  In speaking with Donna, her song is based on a true story that was witnessed by one of her relatives.  Is plundering and trickery considered talent?  No it is not!  We as fans should boycott any and all who partake in this sort of deception.  Not all of the songs on here are fraudulent.  If I were to suggest any music from this album, I would advise fans to seek “Rusty Rails” and “Mountain Flower” for their authenticity and simplicity.  As for the rest of the album, it is quite misleading. $-$$

(© Strictly Country Magazine - March / April 2019)

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