If Alison Krauss has re-varnished bluegrass with a contemporary sheen for the Generation X'ers, the Bankesters are about to make newgrass hip again for the Millennialists. With their music, the Bankesters have struck an evocative balance between the bluegrass sincerity of yore and the sophistication of modern avant grande folk.  Thus, on "Love Has Wheels," you will ravel in the treasured sounds of southern gospel ("Rise Up" and "Reluctant Daughter"), be awed by the virtuosity of bluegrass picking ("Love Has Wheels" and "Time and Love") and be intrigued by creative innovations of neo-folk ("Cup (When I'm Gone)").  The Bankesters comprises of sisters Emily, Alysha, and Melissa, joined by brother-in-law Kyle Triplett and parents Phil and Dorene. "Love Has Wheels," their sophomore effort for Compass Records, finds bluegrass stalwart Alison Brown in the producer's seat.  And with the help of Brown, The Bankesters have invited a few select players to join them on the album, including Sierra Hull on mandolin and harmony vocals, longtime family friend Josh Williams on vocals and guitar, Rob Ickes on Dobro and Jim Hurst on guitar.

Already gone viral is the Bankesters' take of "Cups (When I'm Gone)." The enigmatic title unpacks if we know a little of the song's history.  The song in its original version "When I'm Gone" was written by A. P. Carter and recorded by the Carter Family in 1931.  "When I'm Gone" was written during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl where the world has just opened up with people migrating everywhere in search of jobs.  "When I am Gone" captures some of that wanderlust where the song's protagonist invites us to journey with her across the world in search of a better life.  And a great song like this usually has a shelf life that extends beyond it time. In 2009 Lulu and the Lampshades popularized this song again after it was connected to the Cup Games . Earlier this year Anna Kendrick's version was used for the teenage flick "Pitch Perfect."  What is noteworthy about the Bankesters' rendition is that unlike Kendrick's version, there is a heartfelt appreciation of the elegiac desperation of the song's original Great Depression poverty-driven context.  Yet, on the other hand, they have an uncanny way of drawing all of these complex emotions to our 21st Century.

If you are into songs that aggravate the tear ducts then you will be warmly drawn to "Found."  Be prepared to cry a bucket of tears with "Found," one of two songs written by the oldest sister Melissa. "Found" is a song written for the organization This Able Veteran, a group that returns hope to injured veterans and their families by providing them with service dogs.  The song describes how these dogs minister to the veterans with some Scripturally interfused comfort: "Even though I've walked through the valley of the shadow/ Somehow I'm not laying in the ground/Lonely and abandoned you restored my needy soul/ Taking what was lost and now I'm found." "She's a Stranger" is another shredder to the heart.  This time around this moving ballad glows in the resilience of marital love where a wife still dotes her Alzheimer stricken husband despite the fact that she's a stranger now to him. 

But not all is dour; the title track "Love Has Wheels" is a bullet paced banjo frenzy ode to a firey romance that is not about to stop for any traffic lights.  While "Rise Up" is a four-part harmony Gospel number that juxtaposes the resurrection stories of Lazarus, Jesus and ours in a way that ends the record on a high note.  "Love Has Wheels" is in many ways is what the titular suggests.  These are songs that will drive you to emotional corners you never know existed.  At times we will be on cruise control with our windows rolled down enjoying the breezes of life's blessings.  And at other times we'll be in the passenger seat mourning over life's sufferings and pain, yet knowing that in these moments the driver's seat is never empty.