Album Review of
Hindsight Is 2020

Written by Joe Ross
November 2, 2021 - 4:29pm EDT
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From Harrisburg, Penn., Colebrook Road was formed in 2008 by Jesse Eisenbise (guitar, lead vocals) and  Wade Yankey (mandolin), and the band now also includes Jeff Campbell (bass), Mark Rast (banjo, Dobro), and Joe McAnulty (fiddle). All but Yankey contribute harmony vocals.  During the past decade, Colebrook Road has won various bluegrass festival band contests, and in 2020 was named as a finalist for an International Bluegrass Music Association Momentum Band Award. These five guys clearly show that they’re serious about their music. They released indie albums in 2012 and 2016, then began recording for the Mountain Fever label, releasing On Time in 2019.

Now, Colebrook Road’s Hindsight is 2020, features ten of their original songs, most of them penned by Eisenbise. “Mountainside” and “Back to Where We've Been” open the set with their congenial folk-tinged acoustic pickin’, lyrically attractive song fare, and all-around good vibe. Guest vocalist Amanda Cook provides an understated soprano harmony on “All You Need to Know,” a tribute to the band’s dear friend and memory of Marcus J. Weaver. Composed by Mark Rast, the title track is a driving instrumental that’s snappy and full of steam. Colebrook Road demonstrates their solid a cappella gospel quartet on “All of Our Days,” and Joe McAnulty penned the album’s two closers, a waltz-timed “Dance in Three” and their exuberant “Days in the Nighttime.” Colebrook Road’s Hindsight is 2020 is a pleasant set of contemporary bluegrass originals that reinforce this group’s signature sound, built from the band members’ eclectic musical influences, and presented with their own regional flavor. (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)