Bluegrass fans immediately recognize the name Bill Yates for his many years as a member of The Country Gentlemen. Bill played bass and sang harmony with the band through several line up changes, staying with Charlie Waller for 20 years, starting in 1969.

In early December, Mastershield Records will release a new CD from Bill, entitled The Country Gentlemen Tribute. Bill is assisted on this project by the The Shenandoah Blue Band, whose members include Keith Waddell on guitar, Kevin Mallow on fiddle, Dave MacGlashan on bass, David Propst on mandolin, and Scott Walker on banjo.

Yates sings both lead and harmony vocals on the new CD, with additional lead vocals provided by Darren Beachley (of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver), Mike Phipps (of Eastern Tradition) and Shenandoah Blue’s David Propst.

It contains 12 songs which Bill had previously recorded as a supporting member of The Gentlemen, including Little Bessie, Redwood Hill, The Secret of the Waterfall, Remembrance of You, Son of a Hickory Holler’s Tramp, I’ll break Out Again Tonight, Walking Down The Line, Heaven, and Two Little Boys.

There are no audio samples up yet on the Mastershield site, but they expect to have them by the time the CD is released next month.