Head for the Hills

One of the finest bluegrass acts to emerge from these parts, Fort Collins-based Head for the Hills serves up quite a collection of tunes on its self-titled sophomore release. The quartet (along with some help from Bill Nershi, Drew Emmitt and others) digs in and kicks up the dust on cuts like the energetic, harmony-laden opener, "One Foot in the Grave," and "Chupchik," a high-paced, backwoods instrumental romp that's injected with a bit of klezmer. The bandmembers are quite deft at their instruments here, whether it's guitar, violin, upright bass or mandolin, and with Gus Skinas, who's engineered a ton of Rolling Stones discs, recording the whole thing, Hills is a thoroughly listenable and impeccable-sounding disc.