Hogs on the Highway
(Sugar Hill)
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last album, and a lot has changed, but even more has stayed the same. Ralph
White is out as fiddle player, replaced by Bob Grant, a mandolin player from
New York City (!), yet both appear on Hogs on the Highway. The biggest
change, of course, is the record label. It’s no surprise that they’ve hooked up
with the largest bluegrass label in the country. The Livers have always been
the future of bluegrass, but maybe now the bluegrass community will recognize
it, too. The best part and the one that remains the same here is the Livers’
exhilarating musicianship, which as you might expect, isn’t all high and
lonesome. “Falling Down the Stairs With a Pistol in My Hand?” is a haunting
piece of backwoods Americana, featuring an African percussive instrument called
a mbira, distorted vocals, and a banjo fading in and out of the mix.
“Lathe Crick” is an old-timey blues number with a reggae beat and fine turn by
Mark Rubin on the tuba. “Saludamas a Tejas” is a traditional conjunto melody
played on the banjo by Danny Barnes with finesse and a chuckle. While those
tunes may seem eccentric on their own, in the album’s context they just add to
the fact that Hogs on the Highway is a musical guidebook through Texas
— a trip with which more spirit would be hard to find.
4.0 Stars — Jim Caligiuri
This article appears in February 14 • 1997 and February 14 • 1997 (Cover).