The AustinChronicle--UPS driver by day and coon-hunter by night, Johnny Staat's virtuosity on the mandolin has swooned a millionaire into volunteering to be his roadie and a pet-store owner into dropping his business to be his manager. It seems that everyone from common strangers to country hat acts are drawn to work with this West Virginian. Five seconds into opener "Mandolin Meltdown," this pied picker will draw you in too -- and from there, it'll be all your wee brain can do to keep up with the notes as they flip and fly like the most nimble of gymnasts. As if providing a stroke of mercy for the easily winded, rest stops in the form of ballads ("Coal Tattoo," the title track, "Timbuktu") are interspersed throughout the Staats-penned compositions. Staats' nasally tenor doesn't approach the soul-tearing quality of the trad bluegrass greats, but it's sturdy and affecting nonetheless -- it's got the lonesome, if not the high. The instrumentals ("Legend of the Ghost Coon," "Escape from Taiwan," "Catch Me If You Can"), at once jazz, bluegrass, classical and none of the above, don't cut up anything that David Grisman and the like have not cut up before, but with breakneck, breathless talent like this, whether or not Staats is an innovator is hardly relevant. While many musicians express themselves through their instrument of choice, it's as if the very soul of the mandolin is expressed through Johnny Staats.  4 Stars!!!!

Amazon.com--The Johnny Staats Project arrives riding a wave of big-time media acclaim (The New York Times, People, CBS, and NBC, to name a few) and big-time expectations for Staats as a mandolin savior. Judge Wires & Wood by that criteria and you may never find it a satisfying listen. However, when you finally grasp the idea that this is a debut record from a heretofore amateur musician and full-time UPS driver in West Virginia, you start to realize that Wires & Wood is an amazing achievement. Backed by many of Nashville's finest players, Staats nimbly balances a number of styles ranging from straight-ahead bluegrass to Celtic reels to gentle lullabies to thoughtful folk. He's well versed in the "jazzgrass" style popularized by folks like David Grisman, offering several crafty, cunning instrumentals that prove him to be a surprisingly evocative and engaging composer. At the heart of it all, of course, is Staats's astonishing mandolin work: it's incredibly fleet and fluid, boasting clarity, precision, and taste at even the most ridiculous speeds. He doesn't resort to pet licks and there rarely seems to be a superfluous note amid the torrent. He's also a rich, honey-voiced tenor singer, even if his voice is not his greatest strength; at the very least, his earnest vocal songs give you a chance to catch your breath. Ultimately, the Staats Project may not do anything that the Grisman Quintet or the Tony Rice Unit didn't do 25 years ago, but the fact that he does it as well says quite a bit about this no-longer-hidden talent. --Marc Greilsamer

Click here for Johnny's New York Times Review!

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