Almost as soon as I walked in to the Convention Center on Monday, I ran into talented young fiddler Patrick McAvinue, currently with Audie Blaylock & Redline. He was with his charming young lady, Sarah Fitzmaurice, herself a fine bluegrass singer and musician.

Patrick gave me a copy of his new CD, Rutlands Reel, just released on Patuxent Music, which features a mix of classic fiddle music and hard driving traditional bluegrass. A number of tracks feature Patrick and Michael Cleveland on twin fiddles (Rutland’s Reel, Down Yonder, Henry Rutland’s Country Classic Waltz) and one with Nate Leath (With Body And Soul), another stellar young fiddler.

Audie Blaylock plays guitar and sings a couple, with Jesse Brock and Michael Cleveland on mandolin, and Barry Reid on bass. Pete Kelly plays banjo throughout, excepting two banjo/fiddle duets with Chris Warner.

The fiddle playing is brilliant, and in a surprise for a 20 year old musician, the arrangements and note choices call to mind the seminal Kenny Baker albums of the 1970s. Fans of that fiddle style will be happy to know that the young ‘uns are keeping it alive.

There are no audio samples online just yet, but look for them soon on Patrick’s site.