Missy Raines & Allegheny: "Love & Trouble" (2025) CD Review

Missy Raines is an accomplished and celebrated singer, songwriter and bass player from West Virginia, working in the bluegrass realm. She was the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Award for best bass player. That was in 1998, the year she released her first album, My Place In The Sun. Since then, she's received the award another nine times, and has gained other accolades for her work. Her new album, Love & Trouble, features a mix of covers and original material. Her band, Allegheny, is made up of Ellie Hakanson on fiddle and vocals; Tristan Scroggins on mandolin, tenor guitar and vocals; Ben Garnett on guitar and vocals; and Eli Gilbert on banjo. There are also a few guests on certain tracks.

The album opens with an original number titled "Yanceyville Jail." Though it is an original composition, the song has the feel of a traditional tune, opening with these lines: "I've been in hard liquor and soft red clay/And I've been in some trouble here today/Roll and tumble, tooth and nail/I ain't going to the Yanceyville jail." Soon the song kicks in, and features some nice work on banjo. I also love these lines: "Well, I've been hog-tied and upside down/And I've had a nice tour of your quaint little town." This track has a delicious, energetic instrumental ending. Missy Raines follows that with a traditional number, "Claude Allen," one of those classic bluegrass numbers about death. This is a track that features some fantastic vocal work, wonderful and appealing harmonies. There is also good stuff on mandolin. And perhaps we find ourselves traveling to a different time with that fiddle, and mourning for our own time.

"Cold Wind" is a song written by Roy McMillan and included on the 1973 Roy McMillan And The High Country Boys album High Country. The song opens with these lines: "Who's that knockin' at my door/Hard times, hard times, hard times." Oh yes, this is a song that feels perfect for our strange and ugly times, not just because of its lyrics, but because it is delivered with great joy and energy. We need that. "Let the cold winds blow and the hard times go/And I ain't gonna worry no more." It's difficult to let go of the worry, but avoiding the news has certainly helped me these days. Of course, whenever a bluegrass number sings of the end of worry, we can't help but think of death. Anyway, this is a really wonderful rendition. It's followed by a cover of Nathan Bell's "Coal Black Water," which has a more somber sound, though not as raw as Nathan's original recording. "This world isn't fit for beast or human/But we live like men and work like women/And hope for better for our sons and our daughters/Who are born just to drown in coal black water." There is a great section toward the end, where the vocals are layered on that chorus. There is a power to this recording. I sometimes wonder if it's too late to turn things around, but music is what gives me hope that we can do it.

"Anywhere The Wind Blows" was written by Kathy Kallick, and was the title track of The Good Ol Persons' 1989 album. Kathy Kallick and Laurie Lewis join Missy Raines on vocals for this one. They and Ellie Hakanson take turns at lead vocals, helping to make this track stand out. The banjo work also helps in that regard. "What if someone faced you every day/Took the best and worst and still she stayed/Would you tend that garden come what may/Or would you still find something wrong." That's followed by "Stop 88," an original composition. It feels like the motion of a great vehicle moving uphill, an encouraging sound. "Can't run too fast, might leave the track/Get tangled up in the switchback." Tristan Scroggins takes over lead vocal duties on "Future On Ice," a song written by Jerry Crutchfield and Edria Humphrey, and originally recorded by Jimmy Martin. He does a great job with it. Deanie Richardson plays fiddle on this track.

"Scraps From Your Table" was written by Hazel Dickens, who included it on her 1980 album, Hard Hitting Songs For Hard Hit People (a great title). The version included here is wonderful, moving at a good pace, and featuring Ellie Hakanson on vocals. That's followed by "Eula Dorsey," an original song written by Missy Raines and Tony Rackley. It relates the tale of an immigrant to the United States, working in a strange land. I wonder, does anyone even want to come to this country anymore? Once upon a time, this country welcomed people to its shores, or at least claimed to. Now it sends out its own version of the Gestapo to round up people who even look like immigrants. Well, this song's story turns violent, its lyrics delivered with a striking passion. "Another morning came and went/One more bruise upon her face/She walked softly in his presence/But could not still his rage." The album then concludes with a good rendition of Earl Klugh's "Vonetta," the only instrumental track, taking us into jazzy territory and featuring some excellent work on fiddle as well as some seriously cool work on bass.

CD Track List

1. Yanceyville Jail
2. Claude Allen
3. Cold Wind
4. Coal Black Water
5. Anywhere The Wind Blows
6. Stop 88
7. Future On Ice
8. Scraps From Your Table
9. Eula Dorsey
10. Vonetta

Love & Trouble was released on May 16, 2025 on Compass Records.