Album Notes

Words like "great", "killer" or "awesome" are way too vague to describe this sophomore effort by Santa Cruz's bluegrass wonders StrungOver!. Though such terms are warranted, a word like "balanced" better describes this new release, packed with 15 tracks of original material. Sure, brothers Jeremy and Jason Lampel are awesome mandolin and banjo pickers respectively, but their ability to balance their technical virtuosity with equal parts good, solid taste is what makes them great. The two clearly have the ability to dazzle you with Dawg-like dexterity on original instrumentals such as the title track and the opening cut "Grass Monkey." But, they also clearly know how to play their parts with maturity and grace in the context of vocal-oriented bluegrass songs like "Rainy Eyes" and "Out on the Water."
The balance between the six original instrumentals and the remaining ten vocal-centric original songs similarly sets this band apart from it's peers‹though they clearly don't have any locally. If any one compares, it's a group like Nickel Creek, Who also balances instrumental talent with vocal grace and flights of adventure. However, some of the more singalong-able tracks on Avocado Shakedown reek of a decidedly Hot Rize influence, particularly "Another Saturday Night," where bassist Hugh Broughton handles the lead vocals. When he's not singing lead, Broughton's vocal harmonies are the perfect compliment to guitarist Michael Thurman, whose vocals sound even more comfortable then they did on the band's debut. Thurman's tone-right vocals are just as top-notch as most of the other artists being released by the major bluegrass record companies these days. Not too many local bands have a great singer in their ranks, let alone two. Few if any have such rich harmony vocals, and fewer can still keep up with the killer chops of these instrumentalists.
Where other talented musicians may try to impress by taking every opportunity to show off, these four make even more of an impression by making sophisticated harmonic decisions to complement each other. That's what you call maturity. That's what you call balance. StrungOver! clearly needs no help to achieve bluegrass bliss, but they get it any way on a few tracks. Laurie Lewis adds some high harmonies and fiddle fills on some tracks, while Dobro stud Rob Ickes slides in some sweet runs on others. These two hotshots may attract attention to StrungOver!, but it's the bands four members that keep the attention. -SCOTT COOPER