Dusty Roads

From the cover of Dusty Roads, it isn't hard to predict the kind of music Justin Moses plays. The cover photo shows a man walking down the road, an instrument case in his hand, and the bottom right corner shows a photo insert of a banjo, guitar, mandolin, and fiddle. Clearly this isn't heavy metal, but the grittiest of country styles: bluegrass. Multi-instrumentalist Moses is joined by a handful of friends, but a quick glance at the credits shows that he plays most of the instruments on most of the tracks, and that he's also written most of the album's dozen songs. One of the first things a listener will notice is that a number of these pieces are instrumentals that bridge the gap between bluegrass and new acoustic (think Tony Rice). "In the Sweet By and By" features lovely, gentle guitar, while "Turning Point," the album's closer, allows Moses to cut loose with fine, progressive acoustic work. For traditionalists, there's a fine, upbeat version of "Dig a Hole" (also known as "Darlin' Corey"), and the old-timey sounding "Comin' Up a Cloud." With a few friends and a handful of songs and instrumentals, Moses has put together a solid recording that should appeal to bluegrass fans. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi