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Pinecastle, 2024
9/10
The multi-instrumentalist and singer Troy Engle pens a listen where he plays all the instruments and brings a nostalgic feel to his authentic songwriting.
The warm and fluid title track starts the listen with flowing mandolin and frisky drums complementing Engle’s harmonic vocals, and “Boy I Used To Be” follows with a calmer mood, where beauty and reflection unfold with expressive storytelling and melodic guitar.
Moving into the middle, “Outrun The Pain” swirls with plenty of timeless bluegrass appeal, where meticulous banjo and soaring fiddle won’t go unnoticed, while “Some Times Don’t Go Out Of Style” trims the pace back with a sublime warmth that benefits from breezy acoustic guitar and hazy pedal steel.
Close to the end, the intimate “There’s Always A Road” tugs on the heartstrings via its poetic delivery, and “We Built A Life” exits with a distinct dreaminess that’s graceful and powerful.
Engle takes contributions on the songwriting side from Billy Whyte, Justin Carbone, Alan Bibey, Rick Lang and Jenny Lynn Pickel, and he plays acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, upright bass, resophonic guitar, resophonic pedal steel, strings, baritone guitar and drums/percussion. It makes for an excellent and accomplished meshing of bluegrass and gospel that will always be in demand.
Travels well with: Wilson Banjo Co.- Memory Lane; The Goodwin Brothers- If You Hadn’t Noticed