Here is another new bluegrasser to welcome to the world!

Matt Wallace, who plays bass and sings harmony with Audie Blaylock and Redline, and his wife Diane are celebrating the birth of a son. Whitley Alan Wallace was born on February 28 at 5:45 p.m., weighing 6lbs, 14 oz and “standing” 20” tall.

Congratulations to the Wallaces, and the whole Redline family from The Bluegrass Blog!

The new, self-titled CD from Audie Blaylock and Redline is officially released today (1/27) on Rural Rhythm Records.

It features 12 tracks of the hard-driving bluegrass sound that is Audie’s trademark, played by he and his hot young road band. Jason Johnson is on mandolin, Patrick McAvinue on fiddle, Evan Ward on banjo, Matt Wallace on bass, and Blaylock on guitar and lead vocals.

Like The Traditional Grass and The Johnson Mountain Boys before him, Audie manages to record music that sounds as though he hasn’t heard a lick of bluegrass later than the mid-1960s. Both in the song choice and the presentation, this record could pass as a “long lost master” from an earlier era.

A lot of that, of course, comes from his training under Jimmy Martin, with whom he worked as a young man. Audie includes one Martin/Paul Williams composition (Goodbye), a great Bobby Osborne song (You’ll Never Be The Same), and one from Frank Wakefield (Lonesome Weary Hearts) amidst a number of new songs, all of which sound like they’ve been around for years.

Audie agreed to let us offer a couple of audio samples from the album, and shared a few thoughts about the songs.

Whispering Waters – Listen now:    

“We were in the research and listening process for material for the CD and collected a handful of songs. This particular song was in the group and jumped out at me. It had a great melody, story content, and all the qualities that I like in a song. I particularly liked the high soaring chorus. We ran through the song with the band and after we played it, we knew that was a definite.”

Send Me Your Address From Heaven – Listen now:    

“I’ve always been a big Red Allen fan, and this particular song has always been one of my favorites. I have been singing it since I was a teenager at jams, festivals and the like.  I am not sure why I hadn’t recorded it before, but I knew I wanted to include it in this project.”

You can hear samples from all 12 tracks on Audie’s web site.

The new, self-titled CD from Audie Blaylock and Redline won’t ship until 1/27/09, but with two singles from the project getting airplay currently from bluegrass radio, it is already generating some buzz from fans of traditional bluegrass music.

Audie made his name in bluegrass as a member of Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys, and during a long stint playing guitar with Rhonda Vincent & The Rage. He has assembled a group of extremely talented young pickers, and focuses here on the sort of hard-hitting bluegrass that has always been his strong suit.

The first single, Lonesome Weary Heart, charted on Sirius and XM and in Bluegrass Unlimited, and the new one, Whispering Waters was released just last week.

Here’s a taste…

Listen now:

Carl Jackson contributes liner notes, and has high praise for the CD…

Many times these days, I hear people discussing what constitutes "bluegrass".  You’ll hear one person claim something is "bluegrass" because of this or another state just as boldly that it’s not "bluegrass" because of that.  Well, I’ve never been one to shy away from a good argument, but I can say one thing beyond a shadow of doubt and in only a few words.  This new project by Audie Blaylock and Redline is not only "bluegrass"‚Ķ its GREAT bluegrass‚Ķ no argument‚Ķ end of discussion!!!  I was blown away by the professionalism of Audie’s performance at IBMA Fanfest this past year and this album further confirms that he is a force to be reckoned with in the world of bluegrass music for years to come.

Joining Audie on guitar and lead vocals are the other members of Redline: Patrick McAvinue on fiddle, Evan Ward on banjo, Matt Wallace on bass and Jason Johnson on mandolin.

Pre-orders are being accepted now on Audie’s web site, with autographed copies offered with the first 200 orders.

 UPDATE 12/16: You can catch a live interview with Audie tonight (12/16) at 7:00 p.m. (EST) on WorldWideBluegrass.com.

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.