Last night, we saw the Barefoot Nellies and Mighty Crows at the Starry Plough in Berkeley.

I've been friends with members of both bands since before they were in bands, so it is nice to see them developing as bands. The greatest strength of both bands is their singing - they each have a number of strong singers in their band and do a lot of great harmony pieces. And they've both developed good band rhythms over the years. I think the Crows are a little more polished while the Nellies are a little more adventurous in their set, even including a few nice original numbers.

If you like local bluegrass, you owe it to yourself to check out these two bands. And the Nellies even have a live CD for sale now. You can't get it online anywhere yet, so you'll have to show up at a show to get a copy.

This was the first time we've been to the Starry Plough and we'll probaby go back - it seemed like a very nice little venue for seeing local music, and it's only 10 minutes from my house, which is a big plus.