LOAFERS’ GLORY
Loafers’ Glory
Arhoolie 542

www.arhoolie.com
 

Southern California-based traditional bluegrass ensemble Loafers’ Glory is comprised of veteran talents Herb Pedersen, Bill Bryson and Tom Sauber along with Saubers’ youthful offspring Patrick – a peerless multi-instrumentalist who gets around as swell on the 5-string banjo as he does on the mandolin and guitar. All four sing as well, with their effortlessly fluid three and four-part harmonies particularly brother-tight on titles like Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ Civil War ballad “Legend Of The Johnson Boys” (with guitarist Pedersen taking lead vocal), a heartbreak classic by country music poet Hank Williams titled “May You Never Be Alone” and on a delightful expansion of the traditional rambler “Banjo Pickin’ Girl” – with fiddler and clawhammer-style banjoist Tom Sauber singing lead. Several duet numbers also raise the eyebrow – upright bass player Bryson and banjo/mandolinist Patrick Sauber shake the rafters with some glorious singing on A.P. Carter’s “Sweet Heaven In My View” while Sauber father and son dovetail sweetly on a jaunty cover of one of old-time string band genius Charlie Poole’s signature train songs “Milwaukee Blues” and Tom Sauber, once more, is sparklingly out front on a brightly strutting recall of folk and country legend Doc Watson’s murder ballad “Otto Wood, The Bandit.” Other gems comprise Bill Bryson’s reflective railroad rumination “Ridin’ The L & N” (he takes the lead as well), a gospel quartet-styled version of country and western legend Hank Locklin’s sacred composition “Is There Room For Me” as well as a sprightly run-through of the traditional mountain dance tune “Crow, Little Rooster,” that alertly opens affairs. As one of the reviewers on the band’s web site punningly puts it: “A gloriously full loaf.” More please.

— Gary von Tersch