If their latest standout release, What I Left Unsaid, is anything to go by, The Stone Hill All-Stars more than live up to their moniker. The band may have borrowed from the blues in their honkytonk country folk-rock track, but the aural escapade is anything but mournful; the track exhilarates as it pulses with a liveliness that’s downright infectious, supported by the band’s unmistakable charisma.
Hailing from Baltimore’s music scene, the members of The Stone Hill All-Stars originally played with notable groups such as Two Legs, Mambo Combo, and The Polkats. Together, as a powerhouse, they traverse a smorgasbord of genres, adding depth, vigour and devil-may-care soul wherever they see fit.
With the production quality throwing back to the timbres of college radio rock nostalgia, image-evoking folk tales running through the lyrics and the confluence of crying harmonicas, blazing horns, fiddles flaring and guitars amplified through old tube amps, the band constructed a solid sonic foundation that celebrates musical roots while forging new expressive pathways.
Through their craft, The Stone Hill All-Stars pay homage to their diverse influences while offering and distinct take on what modern folk-rock can be.
What I Left Unsaid is now available to stream with the Wednesday in Winter LP on Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast