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.’

Junior Sisk has had chequered career in bluegrass, writing for the Lonesome River Band in the early 1990s, working with Wyatt Rice & Santa Cruz, Lost & Found and BlueRidge have bracketed an earlier incarnation of the band he now fronts, Ramblers Choice.

Blue Side Of The Blue Ridge (Rebel 1825) fills a void that spans too many years. Sisk, now based in Ferrum, Virginia, has lived most of his life in the Blue Ridge Mountains and it colours his music. Accompanying him here is Sisk’s cousin Tim Massey (bass, vocals), Chris Harris (mandolin, harmony vocals), Billy Hawks (fiddle) and Darrell Wilkerson (banjo), while guest Wyatt Rice brought along his guitar for the sessions.

Sisk is steeped in traditional bluegrass, so much so that How Could I Explain was very nearly on Danny Paisley’s recent album. From the banjo kick-off on the first cut, The Wolf Is At The Door the music drives along at a fair lick. Other highlights are the title track, You Let the Dog off the Chain, Leaving Baker County, Dust On the Bible, I Did The Leaving For You and The Man In The Moon. Massey is the perfect foil for Sisk’s high lonesome, bluesy vocals. Massey sings lead on the two songs that he wrote without diluting the intensity of the rest of the album.

Cherryholmes have continued with the numbering system for their latest album; number III in this instance, with a subtitle Don’t Believe (Skaggs Family 6989020202). I have to admit to be slow getting into Cherryholmes, but that was my loss, although I have caught up with them now.

The family band is growing and developing further with each CD, not surprisingly as four of the members mature as people as well as musicians and, as usual, there is a lot of original material from them. Cia Cherryholmes provided seven of the 11 songs in this collection. The Sailing Man is exceptional with the up-tempo Don’t Believe, I Can Only Love You (So Much), with Cia herself singing lead vocals, and My Love For You Grows, sung by Skip, not far behind. Mum Sandy’s King As A Babe Comes Down is given an otherworldly sound with droning fiddle, whistle and accordion to accompany her vocals. BJ provided a couple of instrumentals; the hot Sumatra and the lovely medley Mansker Spree/O’Coughlin’s Reel, with its twin fiddles, and exercises his vocal chops on Bleeding. Molly, the youngest at 15, wrote and sang the funky Goodbye. The odd one out, so to speak, is Devil In Disguise, penned by Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman. It is easy to appreciate why this group won the IBMA Entertainer of the Year award in 2005.

Mountain Roads Recordings is a new label – founded in Bristol, Virginia, at the beginning of 2008. Big Country Bluegrass, so called after the Jimmy Martin instrumental, was the first band to sign up with them, having previously been part of the Hay Holler stable.

Mention of Jimmy Martin and Hay Holler will immediately give two good clues as to what listeners to Open For Business (MRR-BC-001) can expect; authentic hard-driving bluegrass. Big Country Bluegrass are Tommy Sells (mandolin), Teresa Sells (guitar and vocals), Jeff Michael (fiddle, lead guitar and vocals), Johnny Williams (rhythm guitar and vocals), Lynwood Lunsford (banjo and vocals) and Alan Mastin (bass).

The first track, High Alleghenies, has Jeff Michael singing lead along with Teresa Sells (high baritone) and Johnny Williams (tenor), thus showcasing the beautiful harmonies and drive of this group. Michael’s unique lead vocals can be heard also on Ghost Of A Love, Weary Traveler, I’ll Never Dream No More My Darling and Old Time Preacher Man, among others. Williams assumes the role of lead vocalist on Nashville Jail and Just Another Broken Heart, while Teresa Sells does likewise on I’ve Lost You and I Guess I’ll Go On Dreaming.

Open For Business is a combination of old standards, traditional favourites and two new songs, one by that prolific song-writing couple Tom T. and Miss Dixie Hall.

One CD that has been getting regular play in this household is Signs (Pinecastle 1169) from Special Consensus.

Signs consists of a dozen very impressive songs in all, including some of the best love songs collected on one album in a long time. Ashby Franks’ title song cleverly alludes to the interpretations of messages from the opposite gender. A timeless issue. Franks also penned My Heart Breaks Again. While Justin Carbone’s collaboration with Becky Buller, the excellent mid-tempo Gone To Carolina and his Lonesome Lesson Learned also demonstrate that Special Consensus has two excellent songwriters in its midst.

Franks sings lead on six songs, his voice being equally well suited to Jake Landers’ Mountain Girl, a song from the Statler Brothers’ repertoire, I’ll Go To My Grave Lovin’ You, and another country-style song Footprints. Carbone sings lead on four, both those noted as penned by him plus Leaving This Old Town, and the traditional sacred song What A Beautiful Day. David Thomas, the third lead vocalist heard here, does a fine job on the funky, swinging Talkin’ About It Just Don’t Get It Done. Cahill helped to pen the topically titled Snowball Breakdown. The CD, which is due for general release on 24 March, is a cert for lots of airplay and perhaps some recognition by those that decide to whom the industry’s awards go.

Gold Heart will be touring the UK shortly and, even though they are predominantly very young , they have already released two CDs. Never Let Go is their latest. On this album the band comprises the three Gold sister, Analise, Jocelyn and Shelby, plus studio guests Alan Bartram (bass), Thomas Wywrot (banjo), Andy Hall (Dobro®), Brandon Godman (second fiddle) and producer Justin Carbone.

Typical of this day and age, most of the songs are written by the band members, with Jocelyn Gold providing the bulk of them; writing seven on her own and collaborating on three others. Back To Virginia, Lonely Rain, the a cappella trio Walk On The Water and Hear Me Cry are outstanding compositions. The latter was a finalist in the Chris Austin Songwriting Competition at MerleFest last year.

The depth of maturity in those songs is quite staggering. What is more, it extends to Shelby’s Forever Tennessee and Thank You Darlin’. She wasn’t even a teenager when she penned either song. Not to be outdone, eldest sister Analise contributes the reflective Memories Of My Past and has co-writer credit for Walk On The Water. Most arrangements are up-tempo, but for a change of pace the slower Daylight Breaks and the afore-mentioned Hear Me Cry offer a change from the norm.

All the girls share the vocal responsibilities and solo or in harmony they excel. The performances on Never Let Go are polished with traditional grounding overlaid with youthful vigour and sensibilities.

The Dry Branch Fire Squad’s Echoes Of The Mountains (Rounder 0574) is the first studio recordings in about eight years and it is most welcome. The current line-up comprises Brian Aldridge (guitar, mandolin and vocals), Tom Boyd (banjo, Dobro ¬Æ and vocals), Dan Russell (bass, banjo and vocals) and Ron Thomason (mandolin, guitar, claw hammer banjo, percussion and vocals).

The opening Dixie Cowboy starts up-tempo with Michael Cleveland prominent, before the tempo slows at the end. It is the first of three western songs, the others being Rider On A Orphan Train and Seven Spanish Angels. They reflect delightfully the life style that Colorado resident Thomason enjoys at the moment. His rendition of Echo Mountain achieves his aim of presenting it as a metaphor for all folks who have friends of a different species with a subtle shift of emphasis from the babe to the faithful hound.

Aldridge and Boyd share the vocal responsibilities on Stormy Waters as they reprise the Jimmy Martin duet with Paul Williams in great fashion. Boyd’s other showcase is a solo rendition of Little Joe. Elsewhere there is an a cappella quartet – Power In The Blood; old-time – O Captain! My Captain, a Thomason solo with just clawhammer banjo for accompaniment; soul – Sam Cooke‚Äòs Bring It Home To Me with Thomason’s rustic voice accompanied by a doo-wop style vocal backing; and a touch of dry humour – (You Got To Pray To The Lord) When You See Those Flying Saucers.

How can one objectively review The Hangman (Pinecastle 1167) by Ernie Thacker when, by all accounts, he is extremely fortunate to be alive after a horrendous road accident in April 2006 and a series of critical surgical operations and needs the use of a wheelchair?

Thacker is possibly best known for a brief spell with the Clinch Mountain Boys, although he has had a stop-start career as leader of his own band Route 23 for some years. In addition to Thacker (guitar and vocals) is his brother Matt (bass guitar and tenor vocals), Dick Roach (banjo and baritone vocals) and Brandon Shupping (mandolin) along with guest fiddle player John Rigsby.

Fast tempos dominate for the first three songs, and indeed throughout. The slower Friday Once Again prompts comparison with Keith Whitley’s country offerings. The evocative Keith How Many, written by Melvin Burns and Ernie Thacker, is as powerful a tribute as Fred Eaglesmith’s Carter (mentioned earlier).

There aren’t as many songs from the band members as is normal these days – excellent exceptions are the title song and the Gospel Church Upon The Hill. All the Thacker brothers have a hand in writing these. However, is a good sprinkling of fresh songs with Bill Castle’s The Ballad Of Charlie Dill, Dave Carroll’s Detroit City Chill, and Word Of Mouth from Salvatore Guido and Paul Kelly. Covers include This Drinkin’ Will Kill Me from Dwight Yoakam, I Wish You Knew, Sunday Morning Coming Down and the traditional Rollin’ On These Rubber Wheels. Thacker’s past defines his future.

A variation of this edition of ‘Light In The Window" has been published in British Bluegrass News.

More next time
…………………

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.

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.

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.”

Ralph gives a lot of credit for the album’s sound to producer, Mike Latterell.

“Mike started out as the engineer only and became a defacto producer as the album evolved.

I was introduced to Mike by Randall Deaton. Mike had worked on several previous Lonesome Day releases as well as records by Rhonda Vincent, Randy Kohrs, and Jim Lauderdale. He was also an intern for Bill Vorndick when we recorded the Clinch Mountain Country CD.

He also had quite a bit to do with the musical arrangements. Mike was there for every note so he got what he wanted from the musicians.”

In addition to Tim Crouch and Randy Kohors (who also sings harmony vocals), This One Is II has Cody Kilby on guitar, Ron Stewart on banjo, Adam Steffey on mandolin and Harold Nixon on bass. Steve Gulley, Darren Vincent, Marty Raybon and Dale Ann Bradley also provide vocal backup.

The packaging of the CD is also a departure from previous Ralph Stanley II or Lonesome Day projects. It is a fold-out Digipack, and as Brance highlighted last month, follows the new trend of packaging without liner notes or a insert booklet.

Deaton explains…

“The decision was made in part by the graphics designer Jami Anderson. We wanted the packaging to be bright and vivid but fairly simple. We wanted more visual images in the packaging rather than a lot of words. All the essential information (credits, track listing) is hidden behind the CD. This record is such a departure for Ralph that we knew he would be talking about the songs quite a bit so it didn’t seem nesassary to include a bunch of words in the design.”

This One Is II has shipped to both country and bluegrass radio, so you may be hearing cuts on the air or online soon. Lonesome Day has hopes of seeing the album make waves in a variety of markets.

“We think this is good music that is appealing to a lot of different people. It is very hard to label this CD, played with the traditional bluegrass instruments but sounding a lot like an old country record. We are pushing this album to the country and Americana audience as well as bluegrass.

It has been added to over 50 secondary country stations in the last three weeks. Those are just the ones that our radio promoter is working. We are confident that there are several other stations playing the song but are not on the promoter’s list.”

For his part, Stanley is moving on as a solo artist and as he turns 30, leaving the comfort and security of his dad’s music behind.

“I am putting together a new band as we speak. A very talented musician from Nashville named Todd Livingston is the band leader and he is filling out the remaining members right now.

We have played a couple shows already. I have two more shows to do with the Clinch Mountain Boys and then I am on my own.”

This One Is II should go a long way towards establishing a new musical identity for Ralph Stanley II. Great songs, warmly recorded, with top-notch performances… what more do you need?

Back in June, Brance reported that Larry Cordle’s new project, Took Down and Put Up, would be released on Lonesome Day later this summer. We still haven’t seen a street date for this project, but we’ll be sure to update when we get the word.

Just this week, Lonesome Day announced that Ralph Stanley II will be the newest addition to their artist roster. “II” (two), as he is nick named, is the youngest son of the venerable Dr. Ralph Stanley, now just shy of 30 years old. He has released four previous CDs for Rebel Records and looks at the new agreement with Lonesome Day as an opportunity to define his own sound, which Lonesome Day describes as mixing the mountain Stanley sound with some more contemporary material.

One stylistic break from the earlier projects involves the backing musicians. On his prior CDs, Stanley was accompanied primarily by his father’s touring band, The Clinch Mountain Boys, but this time out he had a stellar group of bluegrass superpickers with him in the studio. Tim Crouch, Steve Gulley, Cody Kilby, Randy Kohrs, Marty Raybon, Adam Steffey and Ron Stewart are listed as guest performers.

No title has been announced and a spring 2008 release is expected.

UPDATE 9/14: Reader Rick Randol emailed to say that he recently purchased the new Cordle CD from The Music Shed. Not sure why there is no mention of the release on eitehr the Cordle or Lonesome Day web sites. If it is offered by one retailer, it should be widely available now.

UPDATE 9:45 a.m.: The Took Down and Put Up CD is officially released on September 18, and will be available for sale everywhere at that time.