Almost Live, the latest CD from flatpicker supreme Bryan Sutton, is out today (7/14) on Sugar Hill Records.

It is a set of ten songs and tunes featuring Bryan in the studio with many of the artists with whom he has performed in recent years. Punch Brothers make an appearance (sans regular guitarist Chris Eldridge) along with Béla Fleck, Sam Bush, Hot Rize, Stuart Duncan, Jerry Douglas and several other notables. The intention was to capture the music live in the studio, with minimal overdubs or tweaking.

The CD’s vibe is nicely captured by Nate Chinen in a mini-review in the New York Times’ Playlist column on July 8:

The contemporary bluegrass style upheld by the flat-pick guitarist Bryan Sutton has a lot to do with high-polish whimsicality. There’s no room for raggedness on his crisp new album, “Almost Live” (Sugar Hill), but as the title suggests, looseness is a priority.

You should be able to find Almost Live for sale wherever you like to purchase bluegrass CDs, or in iTunes where you can hear audio samples as well.

It looks like this one may do well, as it is the #1 selling bluegrass CD at Amazon.com today.

Bryan Sutton is on everyone’s short list of top flatpick guitarists, something that has made him Nashville’s #1 call for recording and short term tour work. This has given him a stable career and a fairly normal home life, by most professional musicians’ standards.

But it also means that his many admirers have precious little opportunity to hear him out front, performing his own music.

Sugar Hill has another of those rare glimpses into Sutton as a spotlight artist with a new CD, Almost Live, due for release on July 14. The title comes from the concept for the album – to get together in the studio with the several groups with whom Bryan has toured in recent years, and capture the informal and sometimes extemporaneous character of a live show.

These include the occasional Hot Rize reunions, Punch Brothers, and Béla Fleck (and his Acoustic Planet band). Each is featured on at least one track, along with a trio of duets with Fleck, Russ Barrenberg and Chris Thile. Not too shabby, eh?

As always, Sutton’s tone is gorgeous – large and round – and while it is clearly his album, the tunes (and songs) dictate the arrangements. In other words, it’s not a “guitar album.” Most of the materials falls squarely within the bluegrass/newgrass/Americana category, with one track that showcases Bryan’s more recent fascination with gypsy swing music.

Sutton wrote the bulk of the tunes, with a Norman Blake classic (Church Street Blues with Hot Rize) and a Delmore Brothers chestnut (Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar with Thile) included for a bit of vocal relief. Choosing standouts is a daunting chore given the high caliber of music and musicianship throughout, but here are a few that grabbed my attention.

Big Island Hornpipe is a co-write with Thile which Bryan says the two of them finished while he was touring with Chris’ How To Grow A Band. Sutton filled in with them on shows when their ultimate guitarist Chris Eldridge was still working with The Infamous Stringdusters. It’s quite a romp!

Rye Straw Suite finds Sutton in duet with B?©la Fleck, with whom he wrote the tune.

Loretta’s Waltz is a lovely melody which Bryan wrote and named for his wife. The execution, with Dennis Crouch on bass, Aubrie Haynie on fiddle and Jeff Taylor on accordion, is restrained and quite powerful.

Be on the lookout for Almost Live folks – if you care about virtuosic instrumental acoustic music, that is. And why wouldn’t you?

Sugar Hill Records has announced a number of new albums set for release during the spring and summer of 2009.

Already this year, they have a solo project from The Infamous Stringdusters’ Jeremy Garrett, I Am A Stranger, which hit on March 31. Next week, they have a new CD from The Greencards, Fascination, with a number of others on deck.

Here’s a partial 2009 Sugar Hill release schedule (with more to be announced soon):

• 5/19: Chris Pandolfi – Looking Glass
• 6/16: Sarah Jarosz – Song Up In Her Head
• 7/14: Bryan Sutton and Friends – Almost Live

When the complete list of nominees for the 2009 Academy Of Country Music Awards were announced yesterday (2/11), a number of bluegrass pickers showed up on the list.

No… not that list (the one with all the Nashville glitterati in their sparkly clothes). They appear on the list of musicians who support all the big stars and make their records sound so good, which the ACM describes as the “Off Camera Nominations.”

Aubrey Haynie is nominated for Top Fiddle Player Of The Year, Bryan Sutton for Top Guitarist Of The Year, and Randy Kohrs and Rob Ickes for Top Specialty Instrument(s) Player Of The Year.

The awards will be presented on April 5 in Las Vegas, broadcast live on CBS at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT).

Congrats to all of our guys for their nominations, and best of luck in Vegas!