Viper Central - The Spirit of God & Madness

The Guardian 60

(Self-released)

A continent lies between the Appalachian mountains and British Columbia, but Vancouver boasts a thriving bluegrass scene, and two previous albums have shown this Canadian group have a fine grasp of the fiddle and banjo dynamics and “barn-burning tempos”. Their outreach is wide, however, embracing western swing, blues and rockabilly, mixing Al Dexter’s I’m Losing My Mind Over You and Gram Parsons’ Luxury Liner with their own material. Singer Kathleen Nisbet likes a story and her personae include Catherine O’Hare, a 19th-century pioneer who crossed the Rockies on foot. Their UK and Ireland August tour should be worth catching.