I first heard most of this album and the group, Ragged Union Bluegrass in full vocal experience through a performance via Concert Window. I was captured by the sense of sitting in on a finely tuned jam session on a front porch. Geoff Union and the rest of the group have a way of taking you back to a simpler life - the way good Bluegrass should. As I listen to the CD of Hard Row To Hoe, I still have the same ethereal experience. (...more)

        Ragged Union’s Hard Row to Hoe has the distinction of its title being the only text on the project that pays homage to the bluegrass originals of yesteryear.  But text is the operative word here.  This is your grandfather’s bluegrass music but not his lyrics or subject matter.  These tunes are “traditional” in their approach and in RU’s presentation, but the subject matter of the lyrics is wholly modern; that is, they deal with modern angst, problems, even fixations in both a literal and metaphorical way.  And this is the crux:  that’s entirely different than how bluegrass music has been “updated” to date.  It is beyond appropriate; it is fresh and innovative while preserving through their instruments the things one likes about bluegrass music.  I’m too old for this—which is how it should be. -Ron Thomason, Dry Branch Fire Squad, High Mountain Hay Fever Fest

        Geoff and Christina can really blend their voices, and their band adds fresh and crisp support. This is well-played Colorado bluegrass! – Pete Wernick, Hot Rize

        Lead vocalists Geoff and Christina Union have surrounded themselves with some of Colorado's finest acoustic musicians on their latest cd Ragged Union "Hard Row To Hoe."  The Album is a thick and easy Georgia wind on an August afternoon.  Grab a glass of sweet tea, settle back on the front porch swing and enjoy the tunes!
-Charles R Humphrey III

        One thing I realized when I first listened to bluegrass music was the sense of fun imbedded in the music and players.  Beginning  with the CD art work and continuing through the music of Ragged Union: Hard Row to Hoe is the sense of fun and joy.   The performances ooze this fun and joy with the music out of every digital bit of the recording.    Get ready for some great listening fun with this new CD.
-Alan Munde