Well Lordy Lord!
What we have here is another of those resolutely nice Bluegrass records that are perfectly pleasant for easy listening purposes but hard to get really excited about.
This one is a homespun collection of a dozen tunes by a duo who hail respectively from the San Francisco Bay Area and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
"It's jubilation just to be here" they gush on the opening and title track.
They are nothing if not enthusiastic.
Typical of their hokey style is Come On Mule, written by Groopman's second cousin T.W. Massie; a sentimental tribute to a hard working Grandpa and to family values in general.
Other tracks include the usual clutch of love laments, a song about a red star (Betelgeuse), one about a dead dog (Mississippi Moon) and another about a circus chimpanzee (Billy the Champ).
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They also squeeze in a lacklustre cover of Paul Simon's Graceland.
Melody and Jacob look like a nice couple but the smiling faces and floral coffee mugs on the cover give fair warning that this will be a relentlessly good natured and ultimately dull ride.
And so it proves.
Melody and Jacob's website
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