The CD kicks things off with a “Rovin’ Gambler” a sizzling intro piece that serves up impressive country western crescendo groove, delivering heartfelt fretwork, impressive storyline that flows & ebbs its way through to emotional fruition. Track 2 “Pleasantville” shifts gears a bit with driving Americana-folk rhythm, against an explosion of Celtic fretwork & full tilt guitar picking from LaFleur & company that’s sure to make your head spin. Track 3 “Double Down or Fold” is a passionate ballad, with heart stopping emotional delivery, amazing slide guitar & lyrical content that will make your hair stand up on end. As this CD slowly unfolds I can hear many different musical influences reminiscent of classic John Denver, Allman Brothers, & maybe just a splash of Don McLean. The music itself is a delightful blend of Bluegrass, Country, & Rockability Blues that goes down extremely smooth song for song, note for note. The most impressive thing about “Them Bones is the guitar playing virtuoso & passionate vocal delivery of LaFleur himself. The vocal timber of LaFleur is to say the least impressive, & right on the money. He has an amazing vibrato, appealing timber & a passionate delivery.  I'll go on to add he takes some rather impressive vocal risks throughout the production as well indicating to me a very strong & confident vocal ability. LaFleur clearly makes the critical (singer to listener) emotional connection with his vocal presence. What’s more impressive is his amazing guitar playing. Make no bones about it – LaFleur knows how to make that slide guitar talk. The CD also offers a rich melodic vocal foundation, coupled with lush layers of instrumentation. From Acoustic Guitar, Cello, Organ, Mandolin, Piano, & lush layers of harmonies. From easy flowing “The Quilt Song” to heartfelt “The Last Thing” to rocking “Shepherd’s Pie Revisited” & slamming “Them Bones” to passionate” Darlin’ Corey” this CD has something for just about everyone. I especially like a few of the Irish-Celtic pieces “Dunolaigh” The CD ends with “Paco’s Lullaby” the perfect finale statement for a CD of this caliber.

The drums & assorted percussion performances (Tracks 2 & 3) sound extremely odd, amateurish & don’t mesh with the flow of the music well. All songs over 4 minutes tend to drag you to the finish line. Perhaps more instruments would increase the production value a bit more. Things like Accordion, Harmonica, Harpsichord, Pedal Steel, Hammond Organ, Stand-up Bass, Fiddles, & Dobro would spice up the production even further, thus making it less dry & repetitive.