This column, containing brief reviews of recent CD releases by Richard Thompson, is published in the current (Spring 2009) edition of British Bluegrass News. As it is a lengthy piece, we have broken it into two parts, with the firt installment having run last Sunday.

A series of rambles about CDs by bluegrassmercury, part 2…

A big bundle of CDs has landed on my desk in the recent past. They include those by Danny Paisley, the Infamous Stringdusters, Williams & Clark Expedition, Kenny & Amanda Smith Band, Daughters Of Bluegrass, High Windy, Gold Heart, Cherryholmes, Earl Scruggs, The Mashville Brigade, Crowe Brothers, Ralph Stanley II, Longview, Big Country Bluegrass.

The Daughters Of Bluegrass Bluegrass Bouquet (Blue Circle BCR 017) is an epic collection of some considerable magnitude, comprising 17 cuts and featuring over 50 ‚Äòdaughters.’ The first track, Proud To Be A Daughter of Bluegrass alone there are 20 ladies singing, 4 shouters and 6 pickers.

Those familiar with the Blue Circle label and the Good Home Grown Music group will recognise that this album is the product of Tom T Hall and our own Miss Dixie Hall. She’s a Boldmere, Birmingham girl! The duo penned all songs and most of the recording was done at the Hall’s home studio in Franklyn, Tennessee.

The quality of songs and singers is remarkably and consistently high, with many stand-out tracks (There Ought to Be) More to Love than This [sung by Lisa Ray]; I’m Gonna Love You Now [Frances Mooney]; Nobody Home [Lorraine Jordan]; the a cappella Go Up on the Mountain and Wait [with five-part harmonies]; I Made of a Flower Today and Scenes from an Old Country Graveyard, both with an old-time country feel; another with a gospel edge Take Me With You [Beth Lawrence]; Desmoranda [Valerie Smith]; Carolina State of Mind [Gina Britt]; and Everybody Got a Light [Beth Stevens]. In addition to the opening song, three others feature multiple lead vocalists. Overall, the ladies have produced an excellent album.

The latest album from Ralph Stanley II This One Is II (Lonesome Day Records 013) sees him striking out for a wider market than that which encapsulates the strict bluegrass fan. Stanley has a deeper voice than the late lamented Keith Whitley, but the similarities are very definitely there, just as they are with his uncle, Carter Stanley.

II, as he is known, has gathered together a bunch of top studio buddies; Tim Crouch (fiddle and guitar), Cody Kilby (guitar), Randy Kohrs (resophonic guitar), Harold Nixon (bass), Adam Steffey (mandolin) and Ron Stewart (banjo, utilised sparingly). Jim Lauderdale, Steve Gulley, Darrin Vincent, Marty Raybon and Dale Ann Bradley all provide some harmonic assistance.

Beginning with a Garth Brooks song, Cold Shoulder, II has included a Elton John song (Georgia) and one by Townes van Zandt (the beautifully melodious "Loretta") and another by Lyle Lovett (a driving bluegrass treatment of "L A County"). Also, in the ‚Äòcountry’ pigeon-hole are They Say I’ll Never Go Home, Honky Tonk Way and If This Old Guitar Could Talk. Train Songs is up-tempo offering from the pen of the ubiquitous Tom T Hall. Saving the very best for comment to the last there is the killer Moms Are the Reason Wild Flowers Grow and the equally heart-rendering Carter, the Fred Eaglesmith tribute to Carter Stanley. File under ‚ÄòGreat Music.’ (more…)

Today (1/16) is a banner day for finding choice bluegrass online. After the Mountain Heart and David Bromberg live set at noon on WDVX, there are three other opportunities on broadcast and online radio.

At 1:00 p.m., Ralph Stanley II will join Gracie Muldoon for a live interview on WorldWideBluegrass.com, cybercasting bluegrass 24/7 on the internet. He’ll be talking about his superb new CD, This One Is II, which was released this past September.

Then at 3:00 p.m.,  switch over to WNCW to hear a live set from Steep Canyon Rangers. They have a show with Larry Keel at the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC and will make a stop in Spindale to pick and sing – and talk about all things SCR – at the WNCW studio.

Catch the show broadcast in western NC at 88.7, or via online streaming online.

Finally, The Steeldrivers have a spot on tonight’s Friday Opry, appearing in the opening (9:00-9:30 p.m.) segment. You can always hear The Grand Ole Opry over the air from Nashville at WSM 650 AM, cybercast at wsmonline.com.

Ralph Stanley II has just signed with Mike Drudge at Class Act Entertainment. Drudge will handle Stanley’s concert booking exclusively.

Known affectionately as “Two,” Stanley is continuing to tour in support of his newest CD This One Is Two. The CD is released on Lonesome Day Records.

All future booking inquiries should be directed to Mike Drudge at Class Act Entertainment.

After performing for the past 15 years under the tutelage – and the shadow – of his famous father, Ralph Stanley II is ready to establish his own musical personality. He has a new CD due for release in September, and is leaving The Clinch Mountain Boys to perform with his own group.

This One Is II may come as a surprise to fans who have enjoyed his previous recordings, offering a stylistic departure as sudden as it is stark. I saw “II” only a few weeks ago with the Ralph Stanley show, and while he did perform one song from the new CD, there was no hint from the stage how much of a change he is pursuing.

Hopefully bluegrass fans will give this new project a fair hearing, as the music – if not strictly bluegrass – is very appealing, and well-suited to Stanley’s voice. The sound is a mix of bluegrass and acoustic country, and the instrumentation is all acoustic, without percussion. The most striking differences from his prior releases come in the song choices and the production (by Mike Latterell). Even using the standard bluegrass ensemble (and familiar bluegrass super-pickers), the arrangements are fresh and thoughtful, giving each song the treatment suggested by the melody and lyrics.

For example, the opening track (a cover of Garth Brooks’ Cold Shoulder) uses Tim Crouch’s twin fiddles and Randy Kohrs’ gritty resonator guitar much as a country producer might, and Ralph’s vocals are as reminiscent of Keith Whitley’s early Nashville sound as anything The Stanley Brothers ever cut.

Other strong tracks include a nice version of Lyle Lovett’s, L.A. County (a modern murder ballad), Tom T. Hall’s Train Songs, and Loretta, from Townes Van Zandt. That last – a paean to an idealized girlfriend – makes a very convincing grass tune, and Ralph’s mountain-edged vocals really sell the story.

Randall Deaton of Lonesome Day Records, who will be releasing This One Is II on September 23, tells us that Stanley started this project looking for a change, but wasn’t completely clear where he wanted to go.

“When I first spoke with Ralph on the phone I had never had a conversation with him in my life. The one thing I got from this first conversation was that he wanted to do something else. I didn’t know exactly what it was, and I don’t think he knew what it was either. There was a mix of restlessness, excitement, and fear all rolled into one.

The record evolved after the production began. I think that we all got more and more excited as the process went along because things were turning out better than we had anticipated.”

Stanley describes that evolution thusly…

“It started out as a record that would be half acoustic country and half Stanley sounding. The more we got into it, the more we realized we were making two separate records rather than two halves of one record. We continued in the acoustic country direction.” (more…)