A great bluegrass band is defined by its singers, and in Greg Silsby, Cumberland Gap has an ace. A long tall drink of mountain water, Silsby has a tenor voice that cuts through the air like a sharpened wing. He's not smooth, he doesn't croon or wail, but his pitch is precise and his feel for original and traditional material — the blues especially — is convincing. He has a band of super-pickers to back him up, but that voice always leads the way. He can sing a tune by the Dead or the Beatles, Bill Monroe or Anonymous, and he can carry the melody past twangy clichés and straight to the heart of the song.
"With three-part harmonies soaring over inspired string work, Cumberland Gap captures the soulful, upbeat side of folk and bluegrass."
The young upstarts are cagey veterans now, heading into their tenth year of playing bluegrass — real bluegrass with Scruggs-style banjo, jaw-dropping mandolin breaks and taut and lonesome harmonies — the kind you expect from the founding generation of the style but rarely hear from the acoustic jam bands that only aspire to an opening slot at Wakarusa. Cumberland Gap's music is more rewarding: Led by the bluesy phrasing and modern songwriting flair of Greg Silsby, the band leans forward as one, focused and tight, and still takes chances with the American folk and country songbook, making covers of Hank Williams and Gordon Lightfoot wholly their own.