Slack Press Sept 2003 Marietta Ohio Times Band not slack in musical quality By Brad Bauer This year's Ohio River Sternwheel Festival was made special for at least two families. Former Mariettan Joe Wharff and his bluegrass band, "The Slack Family," of Richmond, Va., returned to the Ohio River levee to perform for the second time in three years. The group played two toe-tapping sets Sunday. "It's always great to come back home and visit with my family," Wharff said. "But it is even better when I can come back home and play for everyone with my new family." To read this review in its entirety, click here.   Sept 2003 Richmond Times-Dispatch Nothing slack about this family And then there's the Slack Family, one of central Virginia's favorite bluegrass outfits. The beginnings weren't quite as humble but . . . the band played its first gig in a Richmond alley. The five-member band (Joe Wharff, Andy Burns, Nick Harlow, Jim Skelding and Brian Sulser) was born about 10 years ago when Wharff, Burns and one other local musician hit the streets for some late-night picking. To read this review in its entirety, click here.   March 2003 Style Weekly Magazine Slack Family “Pickin’ Up the Slack” (Planetary) **** From the first thumping stand-up bass notes and rousing harmonies to the closing notes some 43 minutes later, the Slack Family’s newest traditional bluegrass release is mostly top-drawer stuff. The boys rely on wood and steel to present a sound that’s tasty, sincere and fun. To read this review in its entirety, click here.   June 2003 Richmond Music Journal Slack Family “Pickin’ Up the Slack” (Planetary) "What's gonna happen to the old times, when the new times come along?" The Slack Family asks that question in their cover of "Purple Valley Blues." On their new CD "pickin' up the slack"(my vote for best title of the year), you'll find the answer. To read this review in its entirety, click here. July 2003 Richmond Music Journal Slack Family “Pickin’ Up the Slack” (Planetary) Bluegrass purists are often offended that the Slack Family are called bluegrass. That seems self-serving. Certainly, they play a mixture of bluegrass, folk and acoustic. Yet, influences from other genres abound. But bluegrass itself is a combination of musical styles, so passing judgement on traditionality feels a mite silly. But that's what I've come to expect from lawnchair-toting fanatics racing across event grounds at festivals. To read this review in its entirety, click here. July 2003 Richmond Music Journal Crestwood Presbyterian Bluegrass Festival Review (June 9th) The "brothers of a different mother"; The Slack Family started the show right on time. And when they weren't talking about the humidity, they did some fine pickin' To read this review in its entirety, click here.