Well, this is certainly a bit of an oddity. 'Lost & Undone' is subtitled 'A Gospel Bluegrass Companion', and it certainly does what it says on the tin. Mixing religion with music has been going on since time immemorial, from hymn singing to contemporary Christian music, however. The High Bar Gang focus on the type of gospel music popularised by people like Bill Monroe and The Stanley Brothers.
The band was initially formed in 2010, when Colin Nairne (guitar, mandolin, vocals) wanted to play some real bluegrass, and invited his friends along for the ride. Along with Colin, the band comprises Angela Harris (vocals), Barney Bentall(vocals/acoustic guitar), Eric Reed (banjo/mandolin/acoustic guitar/dobro), Rob Becker (vocals/stand‐up bass), Shari Ulrich(vocals/fiddle/mandolin) and Wendy Bird (vocals).
Once together, the band was named after the ‘High Bar’ area of the Cariboo region of British Columbia, which looms over the Fraser River and is rich with cowboy history. Since then, the band have gone from strength to strength, playing sellout gigs and attracting very favourable publicity.
'Lost & Undone is the band's debut album which contains fourteen tracks, all of which hit the gospel bluegrass genre firmly in the solar plexus. What is also surprising is that all of the tracks were recorded live in Barney's living room.
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The music itself follows traditional country and bluegrass roots, and the songs are all cover versions, some of them like 'Sinners You Better Get Ready', appear to be sung with tongue firmly in cheek, as Shari Ulrich sings: - “Oh sinner, you'd better get ready, Oh you'd better get ready hallelujah/ Sinner you'd better get ready, The time's a comin' when the sinner must die.” This was a song written by Bill Monroe and recorded by the Louvin Brothers, and the band really do it proud.
Overall, whilst I would have liked to have heard some of the band's own compositions, this is an intensely likeable album, which, although it is unlikely to set the charts on fire in the UK, is more than worth a listen or two, and may save a few souls while it's at it. All together now: - “ I want to be ready, I want to be ready/ I want to be ready, Lord. Walking in Jerusalem, just like John!”
The High Bar Gang online
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