Red Camel Collective

Red Camel Collective

Pinecastle Records

Although this is their debut album, Red Camel Collective’s quartet of singers and multi-instrumentalists are all quite seasoned. Known most recently by bluegrass enthusiasts as the backing band for Junior Sisk, they chose their eye-catching name from Sisk’s song, “The Man in Red Camels.” Written about an old gent plowing a field wearing Red Camel brand overalls, their new band’s name invokes a bluegrass-worthy image as striking as the music they have delivered here. Heather Berry Mabe, a two-time International Bluegrass Music Association award winner, sings through heavenly pipes and strums a guitar with lightning fingers but with the affection of cradling a baby. Mabe’s husband, Tony Mabe, Jr., on banjo, along with mandolinist Jonathan Dillon, and standup bassist Curt Love, likewise play the lovely intricacies within these ten songs—split evenly between originals and inspired covers—with equal measures of big heart and fleet-fingered proficiency.

With Sisk, bluegrass tradition shines through them. As Red Camel Collective, they gush like a fountain of that bluegrass tradition blended with classic country music and with the everyday joys of living in America today. Right off, in the album-opening “Roll on Mississippi,” made famous by legendary country singer Charley Pride, life around The Big Muddy gets celebrated at a delightfully crisp bluegrass pace. Assists from Gaven Largent on resonator guitar and fiddler Stephen Burwell enhance the contagious happiness.

Berry Mabe wrote “Daughter of the Stars” in tribute to women, and particularly those that play bluegrass music. Her message to be happy with oneself no matter what, turns into magnificence in song. In the official video for her song “Sincerity,” images of a church’s stained-glass windows float in and out of a performance by the band standing shoulder to shoulder in a studio. Charming, and several cuts above in presentation. She then showcases her voice as if standing in a choir loft in “All I Need,” her tender devotion evident and irresistible amid the gorgeous music. But she also lets the devil loose and beats it down in “Halfway Down,” Jim Lauderdale’s rockabilly hit by Patty Loveless, transformed here into halfway bluegrass and halfway blues.

Red Camel Collective closes on the bubbly country of “Last Time I Saw Him,” spotlighting the band along with Sharon White and Suzanne Cox in splendid voice, with fiddle champ Michael Cleveland sawing along.

Bask in this shimmering music made by stars in the making, and in the glory of one heck of a daughter of the stars, right from birth.

Tom Clarke for MAS

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