Family Circle

For those that worried Del McCoury's recent box set was a swan song can now rest easy. "Family Circle," the band's first non-gospel studio album since 2005's Grammy winning "The Company We Keep" shows that somehow, Del McCoury keeps getting better with age. This release features the same top notch picking and singing you expect from the Del McCoury Band, but also shows the band continues to grow and evolve with some song selections and arrangements that may surprise you. There are some covers--as the band has come to be known for over the years--with tunes formerly recorded by Slim Whitman, Mark Knopfler, and Solomon Burke, but probably most surprising is Jerry Lee Lewis' "Break Up" on which the band uses their acoustic instruments to mimic The Killer's piano sounds. There are also some more traditional numbers and a gospel quartet that shows the McCourys as a band don't get enough credit for their vocal ability. All the songs are backed by the slickest picking in the land, and the combination makes for what some are already saying is the best recording the Del McCoury Band has ever made.