Carrie Hamby is unique. Her laid-back style suits her songs delightfully well. No cliches, just catchy and interesting originals and very pleasant traditional pieces. Snap this one up! Her other album, Cosmic Reel, is just as original and good. Get both!

just saw the name carrie hamby and singing biscuit and decided to give a couple of songs a listen. i was taken with the sound right away. listened to a bit of water table and lowlands and being a floridian i was curious about the others. weeks went by and it stayed in my mind so when i visited the site again i decided to order stand up eight. i'm surprised that they have not been on the national stage to my knowledge. they deserve to be there with music that doesn't assault your senses when you hear it.

I've had the chance to hear Carrie around the camp grounds at the Florida Folk Festival and have always enjoyed those moments. You see and hear a lot of guitars, dobros, mandolins, banjos and fiddles around the camp grounds but the accordion is not plentiful. In the wrong hands it can be dangerous (as they all can) but in the right hands it adds something quite beautiful to the musical fabric. Carrie has the right hands and she adds that gentle breathy reed sound to many of the songs on this disc. She is also featured here on guitar and percussion as well as providing lead vocals. Her new CD is called Singing Biscuit: Stand Up Eight and features a fine assortment of songs written by Carrie as well as a nice selection of tunes that she covers with finesse. This CD is well recorded and is mixed in a way that highlights Carrie's voice and brings out its subtle qualities. The songs are arranged with care and all the parts work to build the whole. Even the gentle addition of some electric guitar on Blackberry and Last Request is delicately done and very tasteful. It also adds that extra something that the subject matter calls for, especially on Blackberry. I love her a-cappella version of Will McLean's Away O'ee which she merges with her own All For Nothing, a love song of sort for those who remember the way Florida once was. Her writing has something to say and she says it well, singing about maquiladora and gardens lost; phosphate mining and Solidago; Water Table Blues, canning plant hell and living on the wrong side. She doesn't beat you over the head with her point, she just make it well, like combining the Water Table Blues with Sweet Sunny South. What a nice way to close the case. Finally, a few words about the musicians. Damn Fine bunch of players. Doug Gauss, Angie Prather, Frank Graham and Dennis Hardin all add backing vocals for a nice harmony where needed. Some of it is so subtle that it takes a second hearing to pick it up. I like that. Mike Snelling is featured on both double bass and some lead guitar. He is joined in the lead guitar department by Frank Graham. The spice is added by David Leporati on Mandolin and Dennis Hardin on resophonic guitar and banjo as well as Carrie on an assortment of percussion instruments. There is nothing on the CD that clashes with the music or seems out of place; nothing that seems to have been thrown in as an afterthought or just for the hell of it. It's all crafted and you can tell each song was thought out carefully. I really appreciate that.

I think Stand Up Eight it a wonderful album. The lyrics are interesting and give you a glimpse of the true florida. Many people have been to florida, but it's a very different place to those who have grown up here. The melodies are enchanting, and the harmonies are haunting...it's awesome. buy it buy it buy it!!!