A Treasury of Bluegrass and Country Songs
That’s the name of the newest CD release from Phil Rosenthal, former Seldom Scene lead vocalist and long-time singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. It’s a apt title, as it perfectly describes the material and the presentation. There are 17 tracks, mixing vocal and instrumental pieces,and traditional and familiar songs, as well as Rosenthal originals, including his classic Muddy Water, originally cut by the Scene in 1973, well before Phil joined in 1977.
The track list reads like, well… a treasury of classic bluegrass and country songs.
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In fact, he might have called it a Family Treasury of Bluegrass and Country Songs, as the bulk of the accompaniment is provided by kith and kin. Phil explains…
“My wife, Beth Sommers, plays bass and sings harmony with me on a lot of the songs. Our daughter, Naomi Sommers (who is a wonderful songwriter as well as singer – check out her website, www.naomisommers.com), also sings on some of the songs. Naomi started singing with me, at the age of 5, when I began recording a series of albums of bluegrass for children in 1985, just before I left the Seldom Scene – in fact, if you listen to all the albums I produced on my label, American Melody, you can basically hear Naomi grow up (she’s 31 now). Daniel Rosenthal is Beth and my son, and he plays trumpet on the album and also sings bass parts on some of the quartets. Golden Slippers, Rye Whiskey and Sail Away Ladies has all four of us singing on the choruses.
My parents, Lil and Irv Rosenthal, sing on the chorus of Some Folks Do, along with me and Naomi. My father also sang with me on some of the children’s CDs I’ve recorded over the years, and was a great singer. Sadly, he died last spring, just before the record came out.”
He also offered a nice overview of the songs he chose for this new project.
“The songs on my new CD are some of my all-time favorite bluegrass and country songs, plus some originals, including Muddy Water, a song that the Seldom Scene recorded before I was in the band, and had something to do with the band approaching me to replace John Starling when he left the group in 1977. Songwriting was part of my appeal to them, and part of the reason they asked me to audition for John’s spot. (more…)



Ben Eldridge, Dudley Connell and Fred Travers from 



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