Pinecastle Records has released three new CD projects this week, each of which we had previewed for you here prior to their street date. They have also launched a new, completely redesigned web site which Andy Evans at Pinecastle tells us has been in the planning stages for several months.

The new releases are from longtime Stanley bass man, Jack Cooke (Sitting On Top Of The World), The Circuit Riders (Let The Ride Begin) and a second compilation set from their extremely popular bluegrass instrumental series (More Ultimate Pickin’).

Andy says that they are still making minor site revisions, but expect that all the bugs will be found and fixed in the next few days. He invites everyone to stop by and have a look around.

We just got word from our friends at Pinecastle Records with the street dates for two of their upcoming releases which have been discussed here of late.

Jack Cooke’s Sittin’ On Top Of The World, and The Circuit Riders’ Let The Ride Begin are both set for an official release on February 20, 2007.

Brance posted earlier this year about the first release from The Circuit Riders, made up of former members of the final edition of The Country Gentlemen prior to Charlie Waller’s untimely passing. Charlie’s son, Randy Waller, has maintained The Country Gentlemen, while former members Greg Corbett, Darin Aldridge and Billy Gee departed to form The Circuit Riders with Greg Luck and Jaret Carter.

Back in May, Brance mentioned that their debut project, Let The Ride Begin, was available directly from the band, but that no release date had been announced by their label, Pinecastle Records.

Pinecastle has now shipped the CD to radio, but it does not yet appear on their web site, and no official release date is mentioned. It is safe to presume that it will ship to retailers within a few weeks.

Audio samples can be found on The Circuit Riders web site, or on their MySpace page.

Let The Ride Begin is the debut recording from Pinecastle recording artists the Circuit Riders. While Pinecastle has yet to announce a release of the project, the band does currently have them available for purchase at their live shows. If you like, you can order the CD from their website by sending in a check or money order.

I spoke with Greg Corbett, the banjo player with the Circuit Riders, and asked him briefly about the CD.

We hope folks enjoy the project as much as we did making it. It has some original material that we are proud of and hope folks like it also.

Song clips are available, but I had to dig for them. The clips page is here, but none of the links worked for me. I had to click on the link and then change the extension in my browser url bar from http to mp3. That worked for all but a few of the songs with the notable exception being the first track. The mp3 filename is mis-spelled so you have to change the extension and retype it to read lonsomewind.mp3.

I’ll make this post open for comments, so someone on a windows box take a look at this page and let me know if the clips work for you.