Last night John and I purposed to visit several of the after-hours showcases and I found myself at the Jim Lauderdale show. Regular readers of The Bluegrass Blog will recognize that I’m a fan of Jim, and his latest CD The Bluegrass Diaries. Jim did not disappoint last night.

As much as I do like that record, it seemed as if the live show was even better than the CD. Lauderdale is a consummate performer who was witty and funny while maintaining a high level of professionalism throughout. The music was great, and Jim provided a few laughs in-between songs.

The material last night was not constrained to Jim’s latest CD. He reached way back into the catalog and brought out a few songs he recorded last year on his Bluegrass album. He even went all the way back to a track from 2004 at one point. It was a running joke that played well to an audience that was, I’m sure, familiar with Jim’s well established songwriting career.

Jim had in tow an all star line up for his backing band. Randy Kohrs was his right hand man on dobro and vocals. Randy produced this new CD and Jim obviously holds him in high regard. Other band members included Richard Bailey on banjo, Aaron Till on fiddle, Ashley Brown on fiddle, Jesse Cobb on mandolin, Bryn Davies on bass, and Clay Hess on guitar.

The only downside about this show was that it set the bar so high for the rest of the week!