Our UK correspondent, Richard F Thompson, shares this review of a project he found especially worthy.

When cross-pick guitar expert and Clinch Mountain Boy James Alan Shelton was selecting the songs and tunes for this, his ninth solo CD, Walking Down The Line, he was in a nostalgic mood, reflecting on particular moments in his musical life.

The opening track, Soldier’s Joy, pays tribute to the late Clarence White, tragically killed in an automobile accident, and sets a driving tempo with plenty of hot licks from fellow Clinch Mountain Boy Dewey Brown (fiddle) and Adam Steffey (mandolin) as well as Shelton himself. Audey Ratcliff (rhythm guitar) and Barry Bales (bass) provide a solid rhythm section here and throughout.

Shelton had worked up a finger-picked rendition of My Grandfather’s Clock some years ago, but it isn’t until now that he has gone ahead and recorded the tune. Young straight-ahead banjo picker, Daniel Grindstaff provides the essential harmonic chimes here. Also played finger style is Old Toy Trains; it’s one tune that I am going to have to listen to again and again. It’s a lovely sedate melody, written by country singer Roger Miller.

I love Tony Ellis’s original tunes and Shelton’s version of Stephen twins lead guitar and his own banjo playing beautifully. Both of these last two performances are captivating. Salt Creek, or Stoney Creek as it is known in Stanley Brothers’ circles, features Stanley-style banjo from Steve Sparkman, a long-standing Clinch Mountain Boy with Shelton. These four tunes alone admirably demonstrate the varied shadings in style that can be found on this CD.

Nashville Blues comes from the version on the original Will The Circle Be Unbroken LP, a set that is a musical landmark in so many people’s lives. Shelton recalls Randy Scruggs’ guitar break while Grindstaff echoes Earl’s break, at the same time being innovative with an overdubbed second banjo part to one of the breaks. Another slower-paced tune is Fair And Tender Ladies; it is much enhanced by some triple fiddle parts from Brown. (more…)

James Allen Shelton, guitarist with Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, shares memories of getting music for Christmas.

Somewhere I have a picture of me as a teenager at my grandparent’s house in the early ’70’s on Christmas Eve proudly holding up copies of two Bill Monroe albums that I had gotten for Christmas. I remember that the albums were Kentucky Mandolin and Bluegrass Instrumentals. I listened to those records a lot when I was growing up and learned to play some of the tunes.

My grandaddy on Mom’s side of the family was named Bordie Porter and he was the one who first taught me to play the guitar. He lived just long enough to see the release of the first record album that I ever played on by a local group called The Bluegrass Travelers. He died just before Christmas in 1976 and I remember that as being such a sad Christmas for us all.

Then there was the time my wife totally surprised me by getting me the first two Bear Family Flatt & Scruggs boxed sets for Christmas. She put them in this huge box that a vacuum cleaner came in so I wouldn’t know what they were. I had no idea I was getting those and it was a wonderful surprise!

George Shuffler, pioneering cross picking guitarist and one of the memorable personalities in bluegrass music, will be acknowledged by the North Carolina Arts Council with its annual Folk Heritage Award on October 25 in Raleigh, NC.

Shuffler will lunch with NC Governor Mike Easly on the 24th, and receive his award the following day.

Shuffler spent 18 years as a member of The Stanley Brothers in the 1950s and 1960s where his cross picking lead guitar technique was a distinctive aspect of the band’s sound. The technique involves using a flatpick jumping across three or more strings to mimic the rolling sound of the 5 string banjo. This cross picking style mixes a basic melody with “fill notes” for an eighth note flurry that has been replicated and honed to this day.

Here is a YouTube clip taken from his instructional DVD with James Allen Shelton, Clinch Mountain Guitar.

Back at the first of the month we told you about guitarist James Alan Shelton’s new CD, Walking Down The Line. We told you it would be released on the 22nd of this month, but it seems the release has been pushed back to June 19, 2007. James has the CD on his website for order at this time, but it won’t be available anywhere else until June 19.

I still couldn’t find any audio clips/previews of the tracks, but we do have the cover art now.

Here’s is some more information about the songs on the disc, from the press release.

The album’s title song is a Bob Dylan composition that has become much beloved in bluegrass circles. Then there are the hallowed folk tunes and parlor ballads that everybody knows (by sound if not always by title)—“Soldier’s Joy,” “Fair And Tender Ladies,” “Salt Creek” and “My Grandfather’s Clock.” Here also is Stephen Foster’s wistful mid-19th century lament, “Hard Times Come Again No More.”

Shelton dips into the Carter Family, Bill Monroe and Roy Acuff archives, respectively, for “Motherless Children,” “Methodist Preacher” and “Fireball Mail.” Moving forward on the calendar, he covers Roger Miller’s tenderly paternal “Old Toy Trains”; “Nashville Blues,” from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s epochal Will The Circle Be Unbroken album; and Simon & Garfunkel’s majestically forlorn “Sounds Of Silence.” Rounding out this treasury is the Tony Ellis homage, “Stephen,” on which Shelton plays both lead guitar and banjo. In this age of rapid fire machine gun-like guitar players, Shelton’s melody oriented style of playing is a breath of fresh air.

Guitarist James Alan Shelton has informed us that his new CD, Walking Down The Line, is finished and will be released May 22 on his own label, Sheltone Records.

Shelton plays lead guitar for Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys. Walking Down The Line will be James’ ninth solo release.

James is joined on the new recording by some of bluegrass music’s top musicians, including: Barry Bales, Adam Steffey, Daniel Grindstaff, Dewey Brown, Steve Sparkman, Judy Marshall and Audey Ratliff.

We’ll be sure to bring you an update later next month when the CD is released and available for purchase.