Last month, Yonder Mountain Stringband released, The Show, their 10th studio album and the first on their own Frog Pad label. Normally I don't write bad reviews, but when you take on an assignment for Creative Loafing, they expect you to write about the album regardless of whether you like it or not and the truth is, I don't.
To me, The Show comes off as generic and so utterly palatable that I'd believe it if you told me it was engineered in some back office at Clear Channel to achieve maximum appeal (read: maximum sales). Don't get me wrong. If you're a fan of Kenny Chesney , this is probably your sort of bluegrass … err … newgrass. But if you prefer your 'grass with passion, emotion and a little magic, then The Show will likely leave you wanting.
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2000.