Rivers

The back of the CD says "File under 'bluegrass'," and the cover photo shows Scott Anderson in a stereotypically rural Southern setting, picking his banjo beside a sluggish green river. But don't be fooled -- it's really not quite that simple. Though Anderson is a very accomplished bluegrass banjo player and he demonstrates those chops on several tracks, he also spends a considerable amount of time exploring less traditional terrain. Accompanied by such eminent acoustic-music figures as fiddler Aubrey Haynie, singer and guitarist Jim Hurst, banjo player Scott Vestal, and bassist Missy Raines, he plays in a style that varies from straight-ahead (on the Earl Scruggs standard "Nashville Blues") to complex and jazzy (his own composition "Tyler and Amanda") and a hybrid style that alternates melodic with Scruggs-style picking ("Ruby Falls"). His singing is also a consistent delight; while he turns the vocal chores over to others on several tracks, his own vocals offer some of the album's best moments. Highly recommended to all adventurous bluegrass fans.