Dixie Dregs
Album: Dregs Of The Earth/Unsung Heroes/Industry Standard
Label: BGO
Tracks: 25
Website: http://www.bgo-records.com/

I have only bought or owned three modern instrumental albums in my life. The first being the only album made by Swedish band "The Spotnicks" including Orange Blossom Special, "The best of" by The Shadows (of course) and Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield. You can gather from this that other than classical music, I believe singing is a fundamental requirement of good music. I do however have a fair collection of classical music too.

I was therefore not sure what to expect or how I would react to the Dixie Dregs' three album compilation released in 2014. Although it is double CD, it contains three albums first released in the 70's and 80's. The band is the mouthpiece for multi-talented Steve Morse who is the driving force behind the band. The three albums are "Dregs of the Earth" Unsung Heroes" and "Industry standards." All contain a slightly weird mix of blue grass, jazz, Elizabethan music, hard rock with a few others sounds thrown in. The Baroque track shook me a bit!

I have been listening to the album whilst working which is something I cannot do with vocals as I find myself singing along. However, I have discovered a serious problem with this instrumental album. My feet have developed a mind of their own and have been constantly going up and down since the first track on the first CD.

The Dregs have led a fascinating career and one that would seem to be ideal for a film. They have never achieved the success that their brilliance and imagination deserves. They dropped the Dixie part of their name at one stage to make the band more appealing to non-lovers of blue grass music. I mentioned Mike Oldfield above and there are a couple of tracks on this album that could have come from him.

The band originally was born in Augusta Georgia in 1970. It has consisted of dozens of musicians through its life and still gets together on occasions. The common denominator seems to be Steve Morse along with Rod Morgenstein, Dave LaRue and Jerry Goodman.

The third album, on the second CD,(confused yet) "Industry standard" is the only album the band made which includes vocals. It also includes a piece from Steve Howe of YES and Asia. The vocal track "Crank it up" is possibly my favourite of the whole set along with the first track on the first album (I am having trouble keeping up with this too) "Road Expense." This possibly says more about my taste in music than anything else as both are real Nashville style rockers.

So having stared listening to this CD set with a slight touch of reservation and trepidation, I have come to fully appreciate the true quality of the musicianship on the albums. They are an incredibly talented bunch of musicians but as they do not fit into any one genre I can understand why they perhaps never achieved the success or recognition that their talent deserves.

I have really enjoyed listening to the whole 2 hours of music and am never quite sure what is going to come up next. Give it a go and be blown away by the sheer talent and excellence of these guys

Rory Stanbridge