Still

by Rich Warren

I'd put this quartet of Donna Henschell, Kelly Mulhollan, John Johnston and Phil Lancaster in the running for CD of the year. Still on the Hill may be the most exciting group of it's kind to come down the pike since the Red Clay Ramblers. Their mix of material and performance skills delight the listener. While their first CD lacked focus and veered too much toward pop, this self-produced second effort finds them returning to their acoustic bluegrass roots with near perfection. There's so much energy and sincerity in this recording you can't help but like this group.

Henschell, Mulhollan and Lancaster share songwriting duties, as well as peppering the CD with a traditional song, "The Cuckoo", a Greg Brown tune "Downtown," "Irish Mulraine," by Ann Yates, and Kelly Mulhollan's setting of "Gone, Gone, Gone," Allen Ginsberg's last poem. Between them, Still on the Hill plays fiddle, mandolins, 6-and 12-string guitars, acoustic bass, banjo and harmonica, and they all sing in various combinations. Henschell's fiddle stands out as a key component of the group's remarkable sound. Their interpretation of "The Cuckoo" is pure rocket fuel. Henschell's "Round Barn" melodically describes the traditional round barns found in their corner of the Ozarks. Henschell also penned "These Two Arms," a magnificent love song that will melt all but a concrete heart. The notes say she wrote it for her sweetheart, which guarantees a nation of jealous men.

Perhaps the masterpiece of the CD is Mulhollan's "Another Person's Master." It zeros in on the meaning of labor and wealth, and reflects that we are all responsible for how we treat others, and that being the boss is not the goal for which to strive. Mulhollan sings: "You can cheat me with low wages, you can make me work faster, but don't ask me to be another person's master." The driving banjo and fiddle accents drive this song with riveting intensity.

Lancaster's "3 Things in Mind" would have been at home in the hands of the Grateful Dead. Henschell may have unknowingly penned the best anthem for the Baby Boom generation (although she is probably too young to be part of it) with "I Don't Want To Grow Old Gracefully." This playfully defiant song sings of being dragged kicking and screaming to the old rocking chair. In perfect sequencing, the CD concludes with Mulhollan's haunting setting of Ginsberg's last poem "Gone, Gone, Gone" which the notes say Ginsberg wrote "soon after learning his days were numbered." It's minor key intesity with its unstoppable rhythm leaves the listener in something of breathless despair as the final chords fade.

Still on the Hill distills 45 minutes of terrific music onto this CD, and it hits your ears like musical white lightning.