Wind to the West

There's a powerful new force in the bluegrass world, and its name is Blue Highway. On Wind to the West, Blue Highway again resists the temptation to show off their fast and flashy picking and instead sells each song with a strong vocal framed by sturdy rhythms and mood-heightening embellishments. If this emphasis on emotional songwriting and uncluttered arrangements brings to mind Alison Krauss, it's no coincidence. Blue Highway's founder and guitarist Tim Stafford is an alumnus of Krauss's Union Station band; dobroist Rob Ickes has recorded with her in the studio; and fiddler/mandolinist Shawn Lane has played with Ricky Skaggs, Krauss's most obvious model. Lane's high, handsome tenor yields the best vocal moments as on his aching version of the old Ralph Stanley hymn, "Two Coats." Bluegrass doesn't get more lonesome than this. --Geoffrey Himes