Victory Review, by James Rodgers, June 2006
"If you live in the Pacific Northwest and haven't at least heard of The Tallboys, you truly need to get out more. Winners of the 2004 band contest at the Northwest String Summit, The Tallboys are all much too young to be playing music this old with that much passion and experience. Yeah Buddy is their third release since forming in 2003 (and second in the last year), with plans to release another in 2006. The band is made up of fiddler Joe Fulton, claw hammer and three-finger style banjo player Charlie Beck, mandolin and second fiddle player Paul McGowen, bassist John Hurd, clogger and sometime rhythm guitarist Charmaine Slaven, and former member Rob Adesso adding rhythm guitar. They play together with no one musician overshadowing another. This instrumental harmony gives these mainly traditional tunes a nice polish that many haven't had in a long time, making them at least sound fresh again, since they won't ever sound new again. This is old-time country, bluegrass, and folk music that these boys' great-grandparents would have listened and danced to, or maybe even played on a Saturday night. They seem to truly enjoy the music, playing together, and that spirit flows through the music and into the listener. Since they play in Seattle often (it is their home), there is no excuse why you can't catch them at Folklife, The Tractor Tavern, Conor Byrne's or a local house party. After just a couple songs, when you walk up to the CD table and the person asks if you want The Tallboys' latest, reply Yeah Buddy."