UNCLE EARL -
By DAN AQUILANTE
UNCLE EARL - "She Waits for Night"
3 1/2
Rounder Records
AT Telluride, the most important bluegrass festival in the U.S., an all-girl string band called Uncle Earl shook the Rocky Mountain resort town with a mix of catchy songs and musicianship that soared with velocity and virtuosity.

Like that career-making set, their new disc "She Waits for Night" is a mix of originals and old-time tunes that illustrate how this quintet is bound by tradition but not shacked to it. Just take the inclusion of the gospel a capella song "Divine." Sandwiched between fiddles and bouncing banjo plucks it's out of place - but the album would be less if it wasn't there.

Same could be said of "Old Bunch of Keys," a number whose percussion is provided by fancy, clogged footwork.

Download this: "Willie Taylor"

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