Iiird Tyme Out - Back To The MAC (2001)

Their second album in three years (even recorded at the same venue), IIIrd Tyme Out's follow-up to their wildly successful Live at the MAC exclusively contains the band's interpretations of other musicians' material, not too unusual in bluegrass but still a fine marker of the band's progress and standing. The group's sound, as always, is undeniably smooth, especially for the charged version of the high, lonesome sound that they provide. It is evident in the band's solos, Wayne Benson's ridiculously fast mandolin run in Molly O'Day's "When My Time Comes To Go," for example. A good barometer for the group (or any group) is their rendition of the oft-performed gospel number "Drifting Too Far From the Shore." The band's harmonies are meticulously precise (they are the winners of the International Bluegrass Association's coveted Vocal Group award). Likewise, each element is a nearly perfect mix of energy and accuracy. There is hardly a ragged edge to be found on this disc. This is true, almost to a fault. The band's harmonies are so impassioned, though, that one forgets nearly as soon as the complaint begins to burble up.~AllMusic Review by Jesse Jarnow