Lost Posse: The Reviews

Mike Degree, Bill Myregard, Andrew Albright, Chris Clark, & Bob Degree @ 1999

BLUEGRASS UNLIMITED FEBRUARY 1997

Vermont may not be the first place most folks would look for bluegrass. But it's a state that has brought us groups like Pine Island, Banjo Dan and the Midnight Cowboys, and Breakaway, all of whom still perform today.

Brian Perkins Lost Posse is a bluegrass quintet that's been around for more than 20 years, and their solid playing is testament to their tenure. Consisting of members who grew up listening to bluegrass music and others who are relatively new to the genre, they bring a mix of old and new to the stage. On this 47 minute CD, they demonstrate a dedication to traditional music, to the music of Ralph Stanley and Bill Monroe, and they include originals and remakes of popular songs like Johnny Nash's " I Can See Clearly Now" and Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter." Chris Clark One of the best and most tightly performed instrumentals is Stanley's "Clinch Mountain Backstep," with banjo-player Christopher Clark driving the banjo with a fury and Brian Perkins' mandolin enhancing the melody on this classic tune. They perform a laudable, well-paced rendition of Monroe's "Back To Old Kentucky," with Robert Degree singing lead. The five piece band provides a fuller sound than on Monroe's early recordings, and someone ( the album doesn't specify) sings the expected high tenor. Though it lacks the vocal dynamics that Monroe provided, I came away satisfied with the results. Elsewhere, the group's singing is mostly on the mark, though at times can be a bit shaky.

Mike Degree I enjoyed the deep resonance of Michael Degree's lead singing in the bluesy "St. James Infirmary" and the group's brief a cappella break in the fast-moving original "Open Up The Gates," a song reminiscent of "Mountain Dew." Michael's baritone singing, especially in songs like "Tennessee Stud," "If I Were a Carpenter," and the traditional "Banks of The Ohio," gives Lost Posse a sound unique to many bluegrass bands. At first, I found it disconcerting because I'm accustomed to hearing tenor lead singers. But the group's vocals conform nicely around the lower voice and I quickly came to enjoy it. Bob Degree Instrumentally Lost Posse also displays a good amount of agility, though the guitar playing seems less than clean in Monroe's "Jerusalem Ridge." Yet the fast guitar picking is on the mark in "Shady Grove," aided by Clark's driving five-string banjo and a captivating ending. The group also gives a powerful performance in the mid-tempo of "Harrison Town," a traditional Ozarks song sung by Perkins. The group performs a nicely melodic instrumental rendition of the traditional "Sailaway Ladies," though the ending seemed unpolished. Overall, I enjoyed this album. Though at times it was a little rough around the edges, it had enough to keep me interested: Good variety, upbeat tempos, fairly tight picking and respectable vocals. Stephen A. Ide Bluegrass Unlimited February 1997

Used by permission, Direct from Kitsy no less!

VOX- COLD WINTER NIGHTS AND HOT FIDDLES
With fiddle so fast it makes your head spin, let alone tripping up your tapping shoes, Lost Posse's latest - Broken Compass makes one yearn for warm summer days when the grass is high and the festivals aplenty. Despite the title, the band- including members Robert and Michael Degree and Christopher Clark, who have been playing together for more than 20 years, and newcomers Brian Perkins and Andrew Albright - has no problem finding the route to roots-based bluegrass.		Following in the footsteps of Vermont's premier bluegrass bands Banjo Dan & the Midnight Cowboys and Pine Island, Lost Posse's 16-track release celebrates the tradition of bluegrass, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Banks of the Ohio. If your looking for something to warm a quickly chilling body, check out Lost Posse's release party, Saturday at the Burlington Coffeehouse located at City Market. Aimée M. Petrin VOX November 27, 1996
RUTLAND HERALD -TWANG TIME
By ED BARNA Herald Correspondent BRANDON -Saturday at Brandon's Neshobe Sportsman Club, bluegrass lovers will have a chance to hear two bands that aim toward a more traditional sound, but do it in styles different enough to complement each other and make for a good evening's entertainment. That at least was the opinion of Steve Wright, the banjo player for the Vermont New Hampshire group Gopher-Broke Bluegrass. After playing at a festival that also included Lost Posse, he said he had developed a strong respect for the Chittenden County group and looked forward to sharing a stage with them again. "A good bunch of dudes and great musicians," Wright called Lost Posse. Those who were at Brandon's Fourth of July parade last year can judge for themselves: that's the outfit that sailed through on a flatbed truck (whose driver was so skillful that they didn't have a single lurch during the whole stop-and-go trip, fiddle player Mike Degree said in a recent interview). "That was awesome," Degree said. "It was a great parade." Well, the same sort of volunteer expertise that went into that parade goes into making the Sportsman Club events popular, and any money earned there goes to making the annual Basin Bluegrass Festival equally successful. Those who want to get The Full Monty. On Saturday, as the movie saying has it, should show up for the turkey and biscuit supper, which starts at 5 p.m. and costs $6. Or come to the concert ($8 admission} and hear classics from the Lost Posse band of Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, and so on, plus a few recent songs in a similar mode. These were the greats who took the old-time mountain music, made it into the popular "hillbilly music." and thus a lot paved the way for rockabilly and the early gets rock 'n' roll era, Wright said. Bob Degree heard the siren song of "that high, lonesome sound," as some have described it, during the 1970's, when		Burlington was a bluegrass hotbed. Marriage and other duties kept him from getting together with area classic bluegrass 1overs to form a band until the late 1980's, but now they have a CD ("Broken Compass") and a tape ("Familiar Territory") and a vote of confidence from Bluegrass Unlimited Review to back them up. They're still tied down somewhat by responsibilities, but Degree said, "We do a lot of local stuff," which in some case gets to be national, if you count the National Llama Convention at the Essex Fairgrounds. Come and hear Mike and his brother Bob, Chris Clark, Andrew Albright and Brian Perkins (yes, the Atlantic Crossing Brian Perkins) harmonize and play before this posse gets lost in the pursuit of bigger gigs. As for Gopher-Broke, Wright's from Barnet, Hayes Smith is from Canaan, and across the Connecticut River, Gary Darling and Chris Cruger are from, Bethlehem, N.H., and Rick Hamilton is from Jaffrey, N.H. You can tell how much they love bluegrass if you look at a map and consider that they were all part of an , informal group that got together in kitchens to play once a week, then split off to continue an equally intense practice and concert schedule. "It's very high-energy music," Wright said of the traditional sound they strive to create, along with "a very, powerful and moving feeling. We work very hard to project that kind of feeling to the audiences we play for." Get the feeling by showing up between 7 and 10:30 p.m. at the Neshobe Sportsman Club.