Rebel Records has two new releases released last week, a greatest hits compilation and a new duo recording.

Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein are names that should be familiar to bluegrass fans. Klein spent time with Seldom Scene, and later with Mike Auldridge (and Jimmy Gaudreau) in Chesapeake. Gaudreau has been a member of several of the most celebrated acts ever to play bluegrass – The Country Gentlemen, JD Crowe & The New South and The Tony Rice Unit, to name a few.

Their debut CD together is called 2:10 Train, and the performances are true duets throughout. There are no guest artists, just Moondi on guitar and lead vocals with Jimmy on mandolin and harmony. The material is taken from traditional old time and country music, and some of the best contemporary bluegrass and folk songwriters. If you’ve followed these genres for the past 20 years or so, most of the titles will be familiar, but each receives a treatment that is fresh and perfectly in keeping with the minimalist approach on this CD.

You’ll find Tom Paxton’s Last Thing On My Mind, Pete Goble’s Colleen Malone, Harley Allen’s High Sierra and Eric Bogle’s And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda among the newer songs along with old time favorites like Sweet Sunny South, Shady Grove and Black Jack Davey.

There are a few audio samples on Jimmy and Moondi’s site, and for all the tracks in iTunes.

Greatest hits of bluegrass collections seem to come out every few months, many of them little more than back catalog tracks by lesser-known artists. When a project is titled Best Loved Bluegrass – 20 All-Time Favorites, it’s fair to expect a good bit from the CD.

And this new Rebel compilation delivers. Not only are there offerings from Tony Rice, Lonesome River Band, The Country Gentlemen, Larry Sparks, Del McCoury, Ralph Stanley, JD Crowe and others, the songs are great examples of each artists’ work during the time they recorded for Rebel.

The Lost Found are here with Love Of The Mountains, Emerson & Waldron with the original version of Fox On The Run (classic!), Reno & Smiley with Little Rosewood Casket and Claire Lynch with Wabash Cannonball. The Gent’s offer Bringing Mary Home and Mac Wiseman Footprints In The Snow, with Larry Sparks’ version of Roving Gambler and Keith Whitley & Ricky Skaggs doing Dream Of A Miner’s Child (while they were still in school).

You can see the full track listing – and hear audio samples – in iTunes.