"Making a record is all about choices. First, songs are selected through a long and arduous process of listening. The songs then need to be framed properly by tasteful arranging, and when the songs are arranged the musicians must choose to play in a way which suits each song and the recording as a whole.

Cages Bend and their producer Stephen Mougin have shown in this debut CD a predisposition towards making good decisions. They've gathered material from a wide variety of writers - Robert Gately, Becky Buller, Randy Kohrs, Jon Weisberger , Tony Rackley, Stephen Mougin, and from within Cages Bend, Sim Daley and Jenni Lyn Gardner - and they've put these songs into stylish and appropriate instrumental and vocal settings. Cages Bend and Stephen Mougin have every reason to be proud of Now I'm Lonely."

—Ron Block
Alison Krauss and Union Station.

 

"This recording by Cages Bend is an absolute delight to listen to. The arrangements are fresh, the instrumental work is second to none and the vocals are as pure and exciting as you'll find anywhere in bluegrass music.

As a mandolin player myself, I really appreciate Jenni Gardner's work on this record. She has a touch on the mandolin that produces such a wonderful tone and has a real feeling for playing what fits each tune just perfectly. Sims' banjo is driving and syncopated with an authority that drives the band and makes the real grassy numbers really rock.

This recording is one of the best debut recordings by a group I've heard in quite a long time. These folks have all the "right stuff" assembled here. Good material, inventive arrangements, exciting players, and beautiful vocal work combining to make a recording that I will be enjoying for a long time to come. And I know you will as well!"

—Adam Steffey
Mountain Heart