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		CD Review - Badger Mountian Dry Band Reprinted from May 2006 Issue -by ANDY PLYMALE When I started organizing concerts as an amateur music impresario in about 1994, the first group that I was involved in presenting was the Badger Mountain Dry Band, a local bluegrass group that had been together for a couple years at that point. So it was with particular satisfaction, 12 years later, that I sat down to listen to the long coming debut CD by the group, the self titled Badger Mountain Dry Band (Dry Music). Founded and led by two Hanford engineer/managers, John April (banjo, guitar, vocals) and Jim Honeyman (mandolin, vocals), the personnel otherwise has varied over the years, with respect to bass players, fiddlers, and singers/rhythm-guitarists. But what has not varied is the band’s commitment to mixing traditional bluegrass fare, pop songs, and swing tunes into their repertoire. Hence, in addition to having chestnuts like Hallelujah, I’m Ready, by bluegrass icon Ralph Stanley, and the instrumental Salt Creek, by bluegrass founder Bill Monroe, the CD’s song list includes selections from the songbooks of Lennon and McCartney (Ticket to Ride) and Crosby, Stills, and Nash (You Don’t Have to Cry). (Of course, I was bound to be disappointed that some of my favorites didn’t make the cut for the CD. Among the omissions were the 1970s staple Amy, by the Pure Prairie League, and the gypsy jazz tune Minor Swing, by Django Reinhardt.) Being the only bluegrass group in town, the band has been a magnet for local bluegrass oriented musicians over the years, and the current lineup features Pasco’s Joe Smart, the 2005 national champion guitar flat-picker (flat-picking is the term given to bluegrass oriented lead guitar playing), who adds new dimensions to the group. In addition to his obvious talent at taking breakneck paced guitar solos, Smart also gives the band extra rhythmic “umph” and harmonic depth through his spirited and harmonically complex rhythm guitar work. Smart also plays fiddle with the band, and on the CD he takes the lead vocal duties on Love, Oh Love and Hallelujah, I’m Ready. Giving the band a more traditional, acoustic bass sound is musical man-about-town Kurt Gustafson, who has replaced a series of electric bassists in the band. And since the group traditionally has included one “physical chemistry” Ph.D, Battelle “Laboratory Fellow” Chuck Peden (rhythm guitar, vocals) has stepped forward to fill that chair. Highlights of the CD include Peden’s nuanced lead vocals on Ticket to Ride and Baby, Now that I’ve Found You, Honeyman’s haunting vocal take on the melancholy ballad Momma Cried, where the rich “reverb” mixed throughout the CD is especially apt, and the group’s tight harmony vocals on Stephen Still’s You Don’t Have to Cry. April’s banjo work is superb throughout, as well. Badger Mountain Dry Band may be purchased via The Entertainer web site: www.theentertainernewspaper.com/music, from Jim Honeyman (jhoneyman2b@charter.net, 509 627-5820), or at one of the band’s upcoming gigs, which include their regular performance on the 4th Monday of the month at Atomic Ale Brewpub and Eatery in Richland. The band also will perform Friday and Saturday, June 9 and 10, at the Lewis and Clark Bluegrass Festival at Sacajewea Park in Pasco and will appear at the Seattle Folklife Festival on Saturday, May 27.