Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

My first thought on hearing the opening bars of "Ginny Whitt's," the first track on Tom Adams's second CD, ADAMS COUNTY BANJO, was "Notice how his fingers never leave his hands!" Uh, the guy is fast. I mean lightning. Fortunately, he has more than speed going for him.

Adams has been an important part of The Rage, Rhonda Vincent's backing group, as well as an accompanist for such people as Jimmy Martin and Lynn Morris. The guy is a killer, whether as a front man or sideman. On his solo work, his most valuable asset is his single-handed demonstration that there is no such thing as "banjo music," just as you can't pigeonhole a guitar into "guitar music." It takes Adams all of two tracks on ADAMS COUNTY BANJO to demonstrate this. He begins with the breakneck "Ginny Whitt's" then eases into "Box Elder Beetles" (think "Classical Gas" without the pretentiousness). From there he switches gears once again, into the bouncy "Funky Mountain Special" and never looks back. One of Adams's strengths is his ability to take a well-worn standard like "John Henry" or "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and, against all odds, put a new spin on them, making them his own. He draws from sources both expected (Flatt and Scruggs) and unexpected (Steeleye Span). At the same time Adams is quite capable of producing original compositions, tunes with improbable titles such as "The Village Bear" (for his daughter) and "Alice Chickabee" (for his dog).

While Adams is the frontman here, ADAMS COUNTY BANJO is not a solo CD. He's got some guy named Sam Bush on mandolin and somebody else named Alison Krauss playing fiddle here, backing him up and taking occasional solos. In bluegrass, as in jazz, you're known by the company you keep. You don't have Alison Krauss in your backup band if you talents are limited to grinning while you're picking. Adams' talents, which are multiple, are not limited to any degree. I was through ADAMS COUNTY BANJO three times before I realized there were no drums or vocals on here. And I still didn't care. This is music to put on as the sun comes up over your porch, or goes down beyond the horizon while you're watching through your windshield.