I first heard "Lost In The Fog" at my son's wedding. Everyone commented about what a great job they did, somehow the knew how to provide music to dance to without being so loud other people couldn't sit and talk. Being the father of the groom I spent a fair amount of time socializing, however when I did get to sit and listen to the music I was very impressed. The vocals and the playing were excellent. These are very talented people and their talents and devotion to their music certainly are represented very well on this CD. My only disappointment is with myself for waiting so long to buy the CD. Great job and I hope "Lost in the Fog" will give us many more fine music in the future.

Wonderful traditional sound that warms the soul. Lovely vocal performances and the instrumentation was astounding. Any fan of bluegrass has got to have this album. Fun Fun Fun!!!

First off this is a FIRST RATE recording project and this will be on my list of Top Ten Picks for 2004 at KBCS! The vocal work throughout is stunning! Mark and Jake have a way of blending their voices that can only come from the 10 years they have been working together. Their duet work is tight and tasty and the whole ensemble work (especially at the end of Carry Me Home) sends a chill down my spine. But here is what "seals the deal" - the tunes! From the optimistic lyrics of "Home In My Heart", to the wonderful adaptation of "Mother Gold", to the true reality-bluegrass of "Timber Town", Lost In The Fog touches upon a wide range of emotions. This, to me, is the mark of not only a well crafted project, but of what I suspect was many hours working to refine each individual tune, putting honest feelings into the words and music, and just plain "getting it right". And this is what sets Not Far From The Tree apart from many other recording projects I've heard. It's not just quantity of original material here; it's the quality of that material. As a result, Not Far From The Tree will be getting some serious airplay on Bluegrass Ramble

Review: Lost in the Fog's Not Far From the Tree According to Lost in the Fog's band website, their music is "Not quite bluegrass . . . Too funky for folk," and that's an accurate description of their new CD, Not Far From The Tree.  This project wouldn't be considered "hard-driving" by fans of traditional grass, and it doesn't feature the instrumental pyrotechnics of newgrass. Nevertheless, this Washington-based quintet succeeds in presenting original acoustic material in a bluegrass style. The quality bar for regional bluegrass recordings keeps rising, and that's a mixed blessing.  As a reviewer, I wish I could pay less attention to production values, but wishing won't make it so.  My ears, like yours, have grown accustomed to digital perfection, so these days the first test of a homegrown CD is whether there is noticeable a quality drop-off when it spins up in the changer, particularly in the sonic wake of a big money, Nashville-produced group.  Suffice it to say that Lost in the Fog has turned out a quality product; the recording, the package, and the promotional packet all make the grade. What about the music itself?  The instruments are well played and mixed, the vocals are on pitch, the harmonies are fastidiously arranged and executed.  But the strength of the CD is in the material.  All eight songs and three instrumentals are originals, and the range is impressive: they really don't sound alike.  Male and female leads swap off, and the bluegrass sub-styles covered range from fiddle-tunish instrumentals like "Juniper Berry," to the black gospel influenced "Carry Me Home," to the plaintive, tear-in- your-beer "I Haven't Started Missing You Yet," then finally back to the straight-grass "Home to Virginia" (which ends with a witty ironic twist).  Each type is convincingly executed, and lead vocalist Jake Weber is particularly convincing in a number of contexts. That said, I always listen for that one song that folks will feel they just have to carry home--a song that people will like a whole lot more than money (otherwise there's no line at the product table and no hamburgers after the gig).  To my ear, Lost in the Fog may have scored just such a number in the CD's closer, "Timber Town." There's a deep stream of honest, homesick sentiment in bluegrass, a river that runs deeper than simple nostalgia. That longing for what was, is a part of the aesthetic of our music.  And personally, I find that experience more intense when Northwest bands are singing about Northwest experiences.  Hence the success of "Timber Town": it's a plain-as-rain retelling of a Puget Sound childhood, cogently compressed into four minutes, and it works. The arrangement, like much of this album, isn't quite bluegrass--it uses old-time banjo and a tastefully understated accordion--but it captures the emotional space of bluegrass, and maybe that's what really defines our music.  In any case, when folks analyze what makes up this urban tradition of bluegrass in the Pacific Northwest, Lost in the Fog should be part of the formula. Bill Jolliff