What a great recording. Mo Canada shines in this collection of mainly new tunes. He really does a great job showcasing his personality as a guitarist here. To me, one of the hallmarks of a great bluegrass instrumentalist is playing with drive without overpowering the sound of the band as a whole. Mo certainly doesn't let me down. I'm impressed with his wonderfully mature sense of melody and groove. If this weren't enough, Mo's got one of the best tones I've heard in a long time. Anyone interested in Bluegrass guitar should give this recording a serious listen.
-Bryan Sutton
Life just ain’t fair. When I was fifteen years old, I was singing Beach Boys tunes into a drumstick I had wrapped in masking tape, pretending it was a microphone. Years later (many years later), along comes Mo Canada, just to show me how badly wasted my youth was. Canada is a amazing, young guitar player with a bunch of first-rate friends – Rickie & Ronnie Simpkins and Tony Rice. He’s already playing with power and taste, a true disciple of the Rice school of guitar players. We’re going to be hearing a lot more from him over the years.
Canada’s playing is clearly derived from Rice’s, but he sticks closer to the melody. He shows off an impressive use of timing and space in his breaks. You’d expect someone of his age to just plow through the songs, putting in as many notes as he can, but his breaks in Huckleberry Hornpipe are full of interesting twists, turns and stops. Canada has "touch." There’s a relaxed, comfortable feeling in even the fastest tunes. He doesn’t overplay, doesn’t even seem to wander out on a limb too far. He’s under control at all times.
I suspect that producer Rickie Simpkins had a big hand in setting the direction and pacing. The recording is really put together well - as much a showcase for Simpkins’ mandolin playing as for Canada’s guitar. The mandolin and guitar interplay in the Whiskey Before Breakfast/Arkansas Traveler medley is gorgeous. Even more interesting, because it allows for a direct comparison between Rice and Canada, is Blackberry Blossom, with Tony taking the first and last breaks, while Canada gets his licks in the middle. And Canada doesn’t suffer by comparison at all.
His playing isn’t all speed and flash, either. Lorena is beautifully played, slow in tempo but never dragging. On the whole, none of these tunes are all that obscure and probably didn’t really need to be recorded again, but that’s not a major gripe.
All in all, this is an impressive debut by Mo Canada. He bears watching. Pick up this recording, if you can - not just because you get a chance to hear a great new talent forming. Stoney Lonesome is just plain good picking.
-Archie Warnock
(Bluegrass Unlimited)
MO IS better. Tony Rice, one of the country's most respected bluegrass musicians, will tell you that. ``Mo Canada is an amazing musician - and too young to play as good as he does,'' Rice writes. ``His playing serves to confirm the notion that bluegrass guitar will continue to flourish. This album is well worth serious listening.''
The album, ``Stoney Lonesome,'' was recorded at Doobie Shea Studios in Ferrum, a major bluegrass recording studio. All of its instrumentals were chosen by Mo, some arranged by Mo and Rice, some by Mo and Rickie Simpkins, who is a member of The Tony Rice Unit, as is his brother, Ronnie, who also appears on the album along with Rice. ``Stoney Lonesome,'' produced by Rickie Simpkins, is acquiring a national/international reputation.
Following radio play, in areas where bluegrass is more ``in'' than it is locally, orders have been sent to Washington and Texas. Locally, it is getting play on WCMS. Canada's albums also are going to Canada and Japan. Also on the album is Mo's banjo-playing dad, Ed, who, as one might imagine, was instrumental in getting his son started as an instrumentalist. Ed has always been active musically. He used to perform with two Richmond groups, Friendly Henry and Virginia Rail. Mo began performing as a drumstick-on-pots-and-pans toddler. ``He always stood next to his daddy,'' said his mother, Glenna. ``When he was 3 or 4, he'd pretend to play.'' When her son was 13, he saw Tony Rice perform ``and,'' she said, ``he was bitten by his style and finesse - by Tony in general.'' '`They met later. In 1994, they got to know each other. Rickie Simpkins had his own band and was playing at Cajo's in Powhatan County,'' Glenna said. ``He'd always have special guests. A guy who heard Mo play got him up there.'' That led to a meeting with Rice who is described by The Feedlot, a journal of country music, as ``the best guitarist in bluegrass today.'' Rice asked Mo how long he'd been playing guitar. ``A year,'' said the teenager, who had been a mandolinist. ``DDDaaammn,'' was Rice's reply. The meeting resulted in an invite to play with Rice at the Prism, a Charlottesville coffeehouse.
Rice is not the only one to recognize Mo's talent. In 1993, he won a first-place trophy as Junior Entertainer State Champion during competition in Chase City, sponsored by the Virginia Folk Music Association. Also that year, he won first place in adult competition at the prestigious Darden Family Old-Time Music Festival in Mapleton, N.C. All that - and no lessons. ``I picked up the fingering myself,'' said Mo who, when not performing, is very quiet and shy. `I listen to all kinds of music, but it's more fun playing grass than listening to it.''
-FRANK ROBERTS
THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. "I remember well the advent of bluegrass guitar playing in the context of an often featured lead instrument beginning almost simultaneously with Clarence White and Doc Watson. Since that time its' evolution has been a most interesting spectacle to behold.
Mo Canada is an amazing musician-and too young to play as good as he does, but I'll let him get away with it-his place in the evolution of this craft is self evident on this recording. His playing serves to confirm the notion that bluegrass guitar will continue to flourish. This album is well worth serious listening."
-Tony Rice "The first time I saw Mo listening to the Tony Rice Unit his "eyes were as big as silver dollars" - I knew right then that he was taking in every note and this music was in his heart and soul. Then a few weeks later he played on stage with me and some friends, he'd only been playing guitar 7-8 months and "I couldn't believe my ears". He's a fifteen year old with a temendous amount of talent with a true love for the music. Working with Mo on this project was a real pleasure, as a producer I strived for lots of life on this CD and we got it. I wish him the very best in his musical career."
-Rickie Simpkins
Mo Canada released a fine guitar album in 1996 when he was only 15 years old, having only learned to play a few months earlier. After hearing that recording, I tended to think of Mo as another in a long line of accomplished players who became ensnared in the spider web of Tony Rice’s powerful playing. But this recording proves otherwise. While Mo’s great lead playing still retains the trademark Rice tone and touch, he’s plowing his own field now with inventive lines and fluid, dynamic tunes. For proof, listen to the interplay of the two distinctive guitar voices on Tony’s beautiful “Old Gray Coat.” He’s even more proud of Mo now, I’m sure.
Mo has fashioned a great bluegrass romp here featuring nine of his original melodies. He called on highly-respected pickers—names like Randy Kohrs (check out his break on “Chicken House”!), Rickie Simpkins, Darrell Webb, Scott Vestal, Phil Ledbetter, and less well-known but accomplished players like Kevin Light, Chad Light, George Atkins and Ed Canada. He also enlists help from his former compatriots in the East Tennessee State University Bluegrass Program, including current director Raymond McLain, banjoist J.P. Mathes and mandolinist Taro Inoue. During this period, Mo took up the electric guitar and played with a local rock/reggae/bluegrass band called Yukon, an experience that influenced his approach to acoustic guitar and bluegrass, I’m sure.
Sometimes prodigies flame out or move on to other things; occasionally--like Ricky Skaggs, Mark O’Connor or Chris Thile--they stick to the path and eventually widen the road for others to drive down. Mo Canada is moving down his own road now, finding his own muse, and it’s sure fun to hear the results.
-Tim Stafford Kingsport, TN
We loved hearing your recording last night. What an outstanding accomplishment. This mature work of art reflects the many years you have worked honing your skill.
As a composer, you came up with fresh music perfectly suited to your instrument and style. As an arranger and bandleader, you did a remarkable job of combining the spirit and energy of many musicians, some of whom had never played together and formed a wonderful back-up band with the strength and polish of an experienced ensemble.
Congratulations! This recording will always represent you well. Thank you for inviting me to take part. I’m very proud of you and what you have accomplished.
-Raymond McLain
Head of ETSU Bluegrass Dept.
Now Playing: Off of CD -Stoney Lonesome-Lorena
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