1 Deal With the Devil
2 Howlin' At the Moon
3 The Walls of Time
4 Tumbleweed
5 Panama Red
6 Rainmaker
7 Wings of Horses
8 No Woman No Cry
9 Land of the Navajo
10 Ancient Tones

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The Masters at Work

 Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: This is a very special album. Sam Bush on mandolin and Jerry Douglas on resonator guitar are masters of their instruments. Usually that means deft noodlers trying to outshine whatever setting they are in. Not in the world these players inhabit. The music taking shape now, coming out of the best of the Bluegrass, acoustic Blues and Folk traditions, values players who can collaborate as well as lead. Here they fall in behind the conjuror that is Peter Rowan and do his bidding like jennies summoned from a lamp. Much of this is state of the art stuff. I think that Peter can get carried away with the imagery sometimes. The invocation of Elvis in the introduction to Rainmaker is a little over the top. And I find Tumbleweed comes off like a magician telegraphing his next trick. But "Deal With The Devil", "Walls of Time", "Panama Red", "Land of the Navajo"...even if you've heard other, classic performances of them...here they show the indomitable power that a band, driven by master acoustic musicians in the service of a shaman, can have.

The Music of Heartland America

 Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: After every Sunday lunch - all afternoon - at my grandparents, grandmother played classical music and opera. Her musical training, their generation. By the mid-60's it was the soul music, Dick Clark / Shindig TV shows and AM radio "hits" after school. Summers @ my NC camp it was all manner of folk music, counselors with guitars and Indian chants. Segue to Jr & Sr Hi School & College it was all manner of soul music, rock, blues & R&B. Yes this included Poco, Seatrain and other country rock oriented albums. It was not until I picked up MuleSkinner Blues in 1973, that I really came to embrace "the Rowan style" of American bluegrass music.

From his influence on all genres of music to his evocative writing style, Peter Rowan IS HEARTLAND AMERICA history making music!! Yes, on this CD he is surrounded by phenomenal talent / great musicians all (Larry Atamanuik is THE BEST Slap/Travellin' drummer in the biz). One can put all the talent one wants to on a stage, yet if the the experience of the central leader / the ultimate metronome is not fully realized, the power behind that sound will not come through as pure. This never happens when Peter Rowan is in the studio or on the stage here, blowin' the crowd away in Telluride, CO. If your body is not reverberating and your mind not humming the lyric line for 30 minutes to a day after hearing "Howlin' @ the Moon" and "The Walls of Time," .....then your mind will have to be re-programmed on music in general. Your children and grandchildren will sing your praises for passing on this CD and any other Peter Rowan CD to them, long after you are gone. Buy it!

The Connector in Colorado

Inspired to say the least!!

 Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: When I first listened to Rowan back when he and Garcia were in "Old and in the Way" he was good, I thought. Now that he's old enough to be "in the way" he's just better than ever! Every number on this is very, very good but let me just list a few plain out stunners... No Woman no Cry would've got Marley's blessing for sure. This is a hair raising performance! Panama Red is just as good as it has ever been done..yep it even leaves the New Riders behind in the dust...imagine that! Land of the Navajo is just fantastic. Finally, "Ancient Tones" nails it down for a superb last cut for a superb collection herein... and all the others are far from slouch recordings. This, my friends, is what good music is all about. It's so infectious that it's very much an experience rather than a mere listen!