Live rock & roll albums are usually disappointing but, for some reason, live bluegrass albums are almost always better than studio ones. Three August Nights Live, which draws its material from three sets played in music halls in New Hampshire and Maine in the summer of 1999, finds the Albuquerque-based Northern Lights in fine form, perhaps a little bit ragged vocally but absolutely on fire instrumentally. Part of that fire comes from the fiddle playing of the great Vassar Clements, of course, who singlehandedly turns the ...
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Live rock & roll albums are usually disappointing but, for some reason, live bluegrass albums are almost always better than studio ones. Three August Nights Live, which draws its material from three sets played in music halls in New Hampshire and Maine in the summer of 1999, finds the Albuquerque-based Northern Lights in fine form, perhaps a little bit ragged vocally but absolutely on fire instrumentally. Part of that fire comes from the fiddle playing of the great Vassar Clements, of course, who singlehandedly turns the hippieish faux-bluegrass of "Midnight Moonlight" into a tune worth hearing, and who actually manages to uncover previously unheard aspects of "Dueling Banjos" with his wickedly outside-the-box accompaniment lines. Major kudos also go to banjo player Mike Kropp, who slides easily between Scruggs-style and melodic banjo techniques throughout the program, and to the unbelievably fleet-fingered guitarist Bill Henry. This is the kind of band that manages to make an Eagles song ("Heartache Tonight") sound like bluegrass, though it's also the kind that will try to make the Rolling Stones sound like bluegrass and fail miserably. But the album is a definite success overall. ~ Rick Anderson, Rovi
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Add this copy of Three August Nights (Live) to cart. $3.99, good condition, Sold by Books From California rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Simi Valley, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by CD Baby.
Add this copy of Three August Nights to cart. $9.99, very good condition, Sold by Ombria Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chatsworth, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Audio & Video Labs, Inc..
Add this copy of Three August Nights Live to cart. $11.24, very good condition, Sold by MUSICAL ENERGI rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Wilkes-Barre, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Prime 73.
