Local acoustic Duo Records debut Album
By Miranda S. Steadman | Contributing Writer
Local band Red Cedar Review (RCR) is considered by many to be a bluegrass band. But guitarist Brad Edwardson doesn’t see the acoustic duo fitting squarely into that category. “I would describe RCR as a blend of folk, country-blues, and bluegrass,” he says. “I think the defining lines of the genre ‘Bluegrass’ have blurred over the years, and we get put into that category a lot, but we’re definitely not doing a strictly traditional bluegrass thing.”
RCR consists of Edwardson and local mandolin player Aaron Firetag. For Edwardson, a Wisconsin native who now lives on Folly Beach, his journey to folk and bluegrass was more organic than one might think. “Wisconsin seems so far away, but the Mississippi River actually runs along its western border,” says Edwardson. “Way back when, bands from as far south as New Orleans would travel by steam boat to play up there. So it actually had a lot of access to Dixieland jazz, swing, and all kinds of other music from the south.”
Edwardson had a good friend he lived with in Milwaukee who was a big folk and bluegrass fan. “He definitely can take credit for introducing me to a lot of the people I would cite as inspirations now. He’s actually a co-writer on one of the songs that’ll be on the new recording,” says Edwardson.
The new recording Edwardson is referring to is an album entitled The Highway, which they will be recording at Fairweather Studio on Sol Legare the first part of this month. The studio, founded by Bert’s Market owner Omar Colon, has recorded several albums for many local musicians, including Dallas Baker, Gaslight Street, Sideshow Americans, and most recently, Teresa “Sweet T” Parrish, just to name a few.
Joining core members Edwardson and Firetag on the album will be standup bassist Jonathan Gray of Jump, Little Children, percussionist Steven Sandifer, fiddle player Derek Deakins, and harmonies from vocalist Lindsay Holler. The album is set to be released by the end of this summer..
Most of the songs on The Highway were written by Edwardson over the past year. The album will consist of all original songs, with Edwardson’s re-worded version of the bluegrass classic “Shady Grove.”
“I’m really excited to get some original material recorded. I’m really proud of the way this band sounds, the progress we’ve made so far, and the original songs we have to share,” says Edwardson.
For more information or a listing of their shows, visit redcedarreviewmusic.com.
