MOHAVISOUL: Encore

MohaviSoul is out with its seventh bluegrass album, titled Encore. The recording is well done, showing off the skills of band members Randy Hanson on vocals and mandolin, Mark Miller on guitar and vocals, Dan Sankey on fiddle and vocals, Jason Weiss on banjo and vocals, and Ben Bostic on upright bass. It presents a nice mix of tunes and story songs, and even a Rolling Stone’s song that listeners will find pleasing.

The record’s strong suit includes the lead singing of Mark Miller, which grabs the listener right out of the box on “Shine Like Stars,” accompanied by strong instrumentation and fine banjo by Jason Weiss. You will also hear the lead singing of band leader Randy Hanson on several of these tunes, with carefully done accompanying harmony vocals.

The recording is well-structured, nicely performed, well-recorded, and carefully mixed and mastered. The fiddle and banjo do a nice dance throughout, trading licks and soloing. The bass is solid as is the rhythm guitar playing and mandolin. But, with only one short guitar solo, it might have been nice to hear more guitar solo for a bit of variety. There is one waltz-time tune and one 6/8 tune that bring some different color to the project to break up the standard bluegrass tempos and rhythms that help to keep the project interesting.

Listeners who are already MohaviSoul fans or who appreciation bluegrass music will enjoy this new album.