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The Contribution: Which Way World

SCI Fidelity Records

While The Contribution is comprised of an all-star group of newgrass musicians—*Tim Carbone* (Railroad Earth), Phil Ferlino and Jeff Miller (New Monsoon), and Jason Hann and Keith Moseley (The String Cheese Incident)—its debut Which Way World unfortunately leaves something to be desired. All five musicians have long proven their virtuosity, but here they rely mostly on material like country-rocker “Fear of Nothing” and nostalgia-evoking “Time Was Only Yesterday.” The title track and the closing track are clear standouts providing the energy and spirit that the rest of the album lacks—jammy bluegrass with reflective lyrics alongside sweeping fiddle and mandolin featuring Carbone who takes a more passive role than one would expect throughout. On the whole, the album comes off as quickly recorded Americana and doesn’t sound like more than the sum of its parts.