In the Light

Album Review

Tyler Grant has built up a career as a flatpicking guitarist in the backup bands for Adrienne Young and April Verch, and as a member of Casey and Chris and the Two-Stringers and the Drew Emmitt Band. Here, FGM Records, the recording arm of Flatpicking Guitar magazine, gives him a chance to step out on his own, and he turns in a collection of traditional bluegrass- and old-timey-based material, writing or co-writing ten of In the Light's 13 tunes himself. Grant is not a speed demon, but instead has a textured style that works for the ensemble arrangements on these tracks, featuring sidemen Casey Driessen (fiddle), Andy Hall (dobro), Chris Henry (mandolin), and banjo players Chris Pandolfi and Scott Vestal. Five instrumentals are included, and Grant proves a capable vocalist on the eight songs with lyrics. He certainly isn't breaking new territory with this release, but that is only to say he is a traditionalist in a tradition-bound genre. Instead, his first solo album proves his capability in his chosen style.