Motorbikes, Radios and Dancehalls
Lonesome Stars
Carp And Bones

School playgrounds can be a dangerous spot and I'm not necessarily talking about full contact kick ball games. However, eons ago, a friendship was born at St. Christopher's Church in Rocky River that came out for the good as it was the first time Chris Allen, Austin "Walkin' Cane" Charanghat and Tom Prebish crossed paths. The three went on to learn music, with Allen and Charanghat on guitars and Prebish on bass and have been in a number of very recognizable regional acts for years.

The three have teamed up for this project which is a tad unlike any of them have shown an inclination towards yet it is still something shouldn't jolt the area music fans too bad, based on their collective track records. Motorbikes, Radios And Dancehalls bills itself as alt-bluegrass, which is just a slightly reved up version of the original style. Along for the ride are guest banjo man Dan Rose and fiddle player Ed Caner, the latter popping up in more places in town than the RTA bus stops.

Outside of "Billie Holiday Is On The Radio" (what idiot proofed the spelling of the song title on the back cover?), which leans towards the blues, everything else here is down home cooking from a Tom Waits-influenced "Goodnight Moon" to traditional bluegrass numbers like "John Hardy" and "Mountain Top." The Lonesome Stars don't reinvent the wheel, they just put a couple modern spokes on what they are working with.

The only drawback here I see is time. How much time can the trio give this project, given everything else they have on their respective plates? Are they going to be so busy, this is going to be the neglected step child, since the three are always playing on the week-ends at gigs that might pay a little more?

At some point, the three might have to bite the paycheck bullet and get into the "folknet" circuit in the region to establish the Lonesome Stars name at places like the Kent Stage, opening for national touring acts. That said, the trio already did a mini-tour of Alaska last summer and are already booked for a summer 2007 version of the same. They should also consider taking this presentation down towards Tennessee and that region.

Don't expect George Clooney to deliver it to your house, but, if you like the music in the movie O Brother, Where Are Thou? you should just want to float in Motorbikes, Radios And Dancehalls like the local quarry pond on a hot summer day.

For information on the Lonesome Stars, visit http://www.lonesomestars.com

From Cool Cleveland contributor Peanuts hostofthenorthcoastATyahoo.com

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