AMG Review of Movin' On

Stewart Mason
All Music Guide

Bluegrass trio the Greencards might be from Australia (bassist Carol Young and mandolin player Kym Warner) and Great Britain (fiddler Eamon McLoughlin) -- hence the punning band name -- but the three musicians are so thoroughly committed to traditional acoustic bluegrass that their debut album doesn't sound like either a gimmick or an affectation. All three sing, but Young -- previously a solo country performer of some repute Down Under -- has a notably better voice than either of her male counterparts, sounding something like an antipodean Kelly Willis on the sweetly emotional title track. The songs are a mixed bag of instrumentals, original songs and a well-chosen selection of covers highlighted by a terrific duet by Young and Warner on Robert Earl Keen's "Love's a Word I Never Throw Around" and the album's high point, a Fairport Convention-like version of Gillian Welch's "Caleb Meyer." The instrumentals are a uniformly strong lot as well, showing off the trio's impressive sense of rhythmic interplay. A better line in original material and the Greencards could give better-known folks like Nickel Creek and Union Station some serious competition.