Living here in southwestern Virginia, the musical legacy of the Lost & Found is almost a palpable entity in the bluegrass community. Their 35 year career has influenced players, songwriters and performers worldwide, but their impact on the vibrant bluegrass scene near their home base in Ferrum, VA is especially deep and profound.

Many contemporary bluegrass fans think first of Lonesome River Band when southwest Virginia is mentioned, and rightly so. But before there was LRB, Lost & Found was schooling future Lonesome River boys in how distinctive, original bluegrass music was played. Sammy Shelor has long claimed original L&F banjoist Gene Parker was a primary mentor, and Ronnie Bowman spent time as a guitarist and lead singer with them before joining Lonesome River.

Lost & Found saw their greatest popularity in the 1980s, touring throughout the United States and turning out popular recordings along the way. The band launched in 1973 with Allen Mills on bass, Dempsey Young on mandolin, Roger Handy on guitar and Gene Parker on banjo. Over the years, a number of banjo pickers and guitarists/vocalists have come through the band, but Mills and Young managed to retain the band’s trademark style – a relaxed, easygoing sound with sparse accompaniment on simple, plainspoken songs, presented with wit and enthusiasm on stage.

Their new Rebel release, Love, Lost and Found, shows what a 35 year dedication to quality music and an enduring style can produce. It includes a number of songs that will be familiar to long time fans – staples of their live shows – and one reworked song from their debut 1975 album. It also serves as a testament to the artistry of Dempsey Young, who passed away in 2006, while this project was being recorded. He is featured on mandolin and vocals, along with Scott Napier, who has stepped into Young’s large and very impressive shoes.

Let me get the superlatives out of the way… This is a fabulous recording, one I can heartily recommend to anyone who appreciates bluegrass music. The song choices are universally strong, the performances spot on, and the elusive “feel” just right. It may not end up having the influence and impact of their groundbreaking early records, but it strikes me as their most polished and thoroughly satisfying album yet.

I spoke with Mills about the new CD, and he deflected all the praise for the way it turned out to his current band – Scottie Sparks on guitar and lead vocals, Ronald Smith and banjo, and Napier on mandolin.

“I can’t say enough about these guys who let me play with them. Their commitment to the sound that Gene and Dempsey and I started so long ago is humbling. These guys can play any way they want, and I don’t have to ask them to play a certain way.

There ain’t no hot dogs in our group – each man is an individual. I’m so thankful and so proud of these guys.” (more…)

Brandon Rickman, guitarist and vocalist with Lonesome River Band is interviewed in the current (March/April ‘09) issue of Bluegrass Music Profiles.

The interview covers a lot of ground in the life of this young bluegrass singer and songwriter. Brandon talks about his reasons for leaving the band, why he returned, and what he was up to in the interim.

"…everything happens for a reason and when I came back I had grown a lot as a writer, as a singer, as a producer – everything. When we went in the studio (for the recording of No Turning Back) this was the first time that I can say that I jumped in there and was as big a part of it and as involved as you could possibly be."

The new issue also has an interview with Williams & Clark Expedition’s Kimberly and Blake Williams, a DJ Profile with Bill Hensley, a look at the bluegrass side of Charlie Daniels, an interview with Canadian bluegrass legend Eddy Poirier, and a remembrance of Butch Baldassari.

Regular features include Shop Talk with Alan Munde, Bluegrass Favorites with Rickey Wasson and Darren Beachley, a Promoter Profile on C.R. Wilson, and a Songwriter Profile on Stan Keach.

More information on BMP can be found online.

Lonesome River Band is this weekend’s featured guest on Studio Special, the live music and interview show on Bluegrass Junction, airing on XM and Sirius satellite radio.

LRB visited the XM Nashville studios recently to talk with host Kyle Cantrell about their current CD, No Turning Back, and of course, play a number of the songs live.

You can catch the show at the following times on both XM 14 and Sirius 65:

• Friday 1/9 – 8:00 a.m.
• Saturday 1/10 – 8:00 a.m.
• Sunday 1/11 – 9:00 p.m.
• Monday 1/12 – 9:00 p.m.

All times eastern US.

This afternoon’s (10/1) official IBMA showcase offered a number of surprises – new faces, even with familiar acts. Brance and I were there to catch it all while we grabbed a plate or two of “free food.”

Alecia Nugent was first up, with an almost entirely new band since I saw her last. Thomas Wywrot was the only constant, but he has switched to guitar from banjo. Chris Wade has just come in on banjo, with Jennifer Strickland on bass and Alex Hibbitts on mandolin.

She was featuring material from her upcoming CD, Hillbilly Goddess. Alecia and the band looked like anything but, dressed sharply, and performing the powerful contemporary bluegrass and country-tinged ballads that marked her previous project, Little Girl And A Big Four Lane.

Lonesome River Band was scheduled to come on next, but a last minute changed was announced and Sawmill Road took the stage. With so much emphasis on younger acts at IBMA – and rightly so – it’s great to see a new band made up of experienced pros selected to showcase.

The band consists of Bruce Johnson on fiddle, Steve Spurgin on bass and lead vocals, Charlie Edsall on guitar, Dick Brown on banjo and Mark Miracle on mandolin. They were likewise highlighting their new CD, a self-titled debut, and the show was filled with great songs and clever arrangements.

Spurgin’s voice is seasoned and strong, and the band showed their veteran status providing just the appropriate level of acompaniment.

They finished their set to a standing ovation.

When Lonesome River Band emerged at last, guitarist Brandon Rickman was nowhere to be seen. Regular mandolin man Andy Ball had the guitar strapped on, and former mandolinist Jeff Parker was back – at least for this show. Litterally moments before their set, Brandon was taken ill and Jeff stepped in with no more than a few minutes notice. Talk about a pro!

Hats off to Andy Ball as well, who not only managed the guitar spot like he did it every night, but shouldered all the lead singing as well. New listeners unfamiliar with the band would never have guessed that an emergency switch had been made. Longtime banjo picker Sammy Shelor was peeling the paint off the roof and Mike Hartgrove on fiddle and Mike Anglin on bass turned in the sort of powerful performance that has defined the band’s sound for the past 25 years.

LRB has a new CD as well, No Turning Back, but without Brandon, they weren’t able to feature much of that material – though Ball offered a strong version of We Couldn’t Tell, an especially apt choice, telling the story of the stock market crash on 1929 and it’s impact on a poor rural family.

All in all a great show from LRB, showing what flexibility and multi-talented players mean in our business.