Track Listing

1. Man Over
2. Tennessee Saturday Night
3. Dress Me Up, Dress Me Down
4. Mornin' Dove
5. Honey Honey Bee
6. Always The Same, Always The Best
7. Hold To God's Unchanging Hand
8. Mistakes
9. Candy Coated Valentine
10. Marie Laveaux
11. No Saint, No Prize
12. Solitude

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43779 in Music
• Released on: 2003-05-20
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Most jazz-country hybrids tend to emphasize the instrumental side of the equation, but Robinella and the CCStringband, a mostly acoustic bluegrass-tinged quintet from Knoxville, Tennessee, break the mold by putting Robinella Contreras’s stylish vocals front and center. When she sings about getting her kicks from an old fruit jar on her version of Red Foley’s classic "Tennessee Saturday Night," her sophisticated phrasing and the swinging mandolin breaks from her husband Cruz Contreras make it sound as if she’s talking about martinis instead of moonshine. But Contreras still has some twang in her voice, and even when she scats, as she does on "Honey Honey Bee," there’s a "front porch" feel to her singing. For some, Robinella and the CCStringband may sometimes be a bit too laid back, but their easygoing charm is a pleasant change from the frenetic tempos that drive many bluegrass-inspired bands. --Michael Simmons

Customer Reviews

Defies Every Categorization but This One: Excellence
The CC Stringband name is entirely accurate -- this band, aside from Robinella's expressive vocals -- is all strings and almost all acoustic. But out of those strings, two guitars, mandolin, fiddle and bass, and her voice comes some impressive musical diversity. They dish up old time Opry-like rousers, Tennessee Saturday Night; a sweet life story country ballad of love and flannel pajamas, Dress Me Up, Dress Me Down; the always welcome Cajun black magic of Marie Laveaux; mountain gospel, Hold to God's Unchanging Hand; and -- the big surprise -- some jazz blues, the original Honey, Honey Bee and Duke Ellington's Solitude. As the CD booklet photo of Robinella grasping an old-style stand-up stage microphone suggests, this is a CD out of time that makes its own time. And every time I play it a different song jumps out at me, Mistakes is a current favorite, but eventually everything on Robinella and the CC Stringband will command your attention.

Joy in a Soundbite
I have NEVER come directly from my car stero to the computer to find an artist and CD but I did today after hearing the NPR spot on Robinella & the Ccstring band. I tried to explain the group to my husband as I was doing my search....told him what I heard was sort of a cross between the sweetness and purity of Eva Cassidy & Emmy Lou Harris melded with a great jazz/bluegrass band. He just looked at me. The lyrics of of Dress me up, Dress Me Down will stay with me..touching my own memories. He's not a country fan but I am sure the "folk/jazz" lover part of him will like this CD.

Real Music
I recently received this CD, and I must say it is my new favorite! This is REAL music, from a versatile band who writes original tunes.

This CD doesn't sound "over-processed"- what you hear on this CD is what you hear from them in person (yes, I have heard them live). Robinella's voice is sweet, with a fantastic texture that will likely only improve with age. And she delivers her lyrics with her own STYLE. So refreshing these days! The picking is tasteful, solid and innovative. In fact, I would love to hear a couple of instrumentals on their next CD!

The original tunes on this CD are niiice. The lyrics are poetic with symbolism both musical ("Mourning Dove") and literary ("Man Over", "Dress Me Up, Dress Me Down"), and the melodies are addictive. I find "Honey, Honey Bee" and "Man Over" stuck in my head, and that's all right with me!

I guess the best attribute of this new group is their versatility. Some songs have a distict bluegrass instrumentation and feel ("Man Over" and "Dress Me Up, Dress Me Down") while others are definitely jazz-swing ("Honey Honey Bee", "Marie Leveaux", "No Saint No Prize" and "Candy Coated Valentine"). Still others are country-gospel ("Hold to God's Unchanging Hand")... Brilliant!

Keep an eye out for this group on the music awards shows... I will!