Niall Toner has sent along a copy of his latest CD with his band, NTB3, their 3rd CD of Toner’s original music.

Whereas prior releases have featured the Irish singer/songwriter in a bluegrass band setting, this new project is closer to an old time or traditional country sound. Toner is on guitar more than his customary mandolin, with band mates Clem O’Brien on guitar and Dick Gladney on bass. You’ll hear Niall on banjo on one track, Sleeping Beauty, played in his own hybrid pre-bluegrass picking style.

NTB3 will have tremendous appeal to fans of Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers. There is even a track, Jimmy Rodger’s Dream [sic], co-written with Peter Rowan, that was explicitly intended as an “in-the-style-of” tribute to The Singing Brakeman.

All the songs are presented in a stark, unpretentious style, again in a nod to the earlier sounds that formed the basis of what we now know as country music.

You can hear audio samples in iTunes, or at Amazon.com.

Niall tells us that he is headed to the US next week for the Americana Music Festival and Conference, where he will be conducting interviews for his radio show, Roots Freeway, aired on RTE Radio in Ireland. He also shared that he has four co-writes on Keith Sewell’s new CD, The Way Of A Wanderer, due for a September 15 release on Rubber Dog Records.