IndexBluegrassReleases08

1. After You've Gone
2. Old Joe Clark
3. Bonaparte's Retreat
4. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That
Swing)
5. Tennessee Waltz
6. Sally Goodin
7. The Entertainer
8. Lake Pontchartrain
9. Fishing Jig
10. Sally Johnson
11. T And T Rag
12. At Break Of Dawn Waltz
13. Tom And Jerry
14. Pete's Waltz

1. Wheels
2. Whose Shoulder Will You Cry On
3. Making Hay
4. Who Showed Who
5. It All Comes Down To You
6. How Long Is This Train
7. I Ain't Taking You Back No More
8. Heads You Win Tails I Lose
9. How Many Times
10. The One You Lean On
11. Knock Knock!
12. Some Early Morning

1. The Wolf Is At The Door
2. You Let The Dog Get Off The Chain
3. Leaving Baker County
4. How Could I Explain
5. The Man In Red Camels
6. Blue Side Of The Blue Ridge
7. Dust On The Bible
8. I Did The Leaving For You
9. Poor Mountain
10. Little Bit Of This, Little Bit Of That
11. The Man In The Moon
12. Steel Rail Rider

Country music goes crazy when it
discovers a teenage performer but
Bluegrass spawns wunderkinder with
amazing regularity. Both Casey and Jon
Grisham who plays guitar on this CD
are young and wonderfully talented.
However, I believe that this first CD is
just that; a first step on the yellow brick
road. The limited production doesn't
help Casey because it shows up some
of his limitations. I am sure that as he
progresses with experience, he will be a
musician in contention with the Glen
Duncans of this world.

Dan has, of course, earned his bread
in recent years as a member of Union
Station and as the front man with the
Soggy Bottom Boys. Yes, Dan is really
George Clooney!!! Here with his own
outfit and guests that include Vince Gill,
Dan has a very workmanlike CD on his
hands. The tracks are finely balanced
between traditional fast driving
Bluegrass and well crafted
contemporary ballads. The CD is a
surefire contender for the next IBMA
Awards as is Dan himself. I am looking
forward to see Dan and the guys
playing live.

This is a competent CD that really
doesn't say anything that many others
haven't done before. This may be a
case where the live act surpasses the
recording. Ronnie Bowman's
production does what it is supposed to
do but at times I could have done with
some more pezazz.

IIIRD TYME OUT

"FOOTPRINTS: A IIIRD TYME OUT
COLLECTION"

ROUNDER 11661-0602-2

PRODUCED BY IIIRD TYME OUT
* PRODUCED BY IIIRD TYME OUT AND KEN IRWIN
COMPILED BY KEN IRWIN AND BRAD SAN MARTIN

DAN PAISLEY AND THE SOUTHERN GRASS

"THE ROOM OVER MINE"

ROUNDER 11661-0589-2

NO PRODUCER LISTED

SIERRA HULL

"SECRETS"

ROUNDER 11661 0601-2

PRODUCED BY RON BLOCK AND SIERRA HULL

1. Footprints In The Snow #
2. One Kiss Away From Loneliness #
3. Lovin' You Goin' Blind *
4. John And Mary *
5. Across The Miles
6. Raining In LA
7. I Pray My Way Out Of Trouble *
8. Milk Cow Blues *
9. Letter To Home
10. Swing Low Sweet Chariot
11. Erase The Miles *
12. Just Call On Him *
13. New Faces In The Field
14. Only You (And You Alone)
15. Giving My Soul Back To Him

# Previously unreleased

1. Don't Throw Mama's Flowers Away
2. The Convict And The Rose
3. I'm Leaving Detroit
4. I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name
5. A Memory Of You
6. Sweet Potato Rag
7. I'm Coming Back But I Don't Know When
8. Another Bridge To Burn
9. Raising Cane In Texas
10. Room Over Mine
11. Backstep Sally Ann
12. At The End Of A Long Lonely Day
13. Drowning Sailor

1. Secrets
2. From Now On
3. Two Winding Rails
4. Smashville
5. Everybody's Somebody's Fool
6. Pretend
7. If You Can Tame My Heart
8. That's All I Can Say
9. The Hard Way
10. Hullarious
11. Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder
12. Only My Heart
13. Trust And Obey

IIIrd Tyme Out has long been one of my
favorite bands. There success is due to many
elements not least of which is Russell
Moore's fine voice and the "ballsy" production.
They have always been adventurous viz their
take on "Only You." One little correction
though, "Milk Cow Blues" was written by
Kokomo Arnold and not Arnold Kokomo. Part
of the secret of the band's success is their
fearlessness musically and vocally including
being one of the few bands capable of
singing acapella. This is a must have CD

Wow!! The music fairly leaps out of the record
player. Dan has an almost Jerry Lee Lewis
drawl and it fits so well in Bluegrass. I have
an advance copy of the CD and so I visited
Southern Grass's website. Dan and Michael
Paisley are the sons of Bluegrass legend,
Bob Paisley and prove the maxim that acorns
don't fall far from the tree. This is like
rediscovering Bluegrass. Rush out and buy it,
sell your first born if necessary!!! I hope these
guys are going to play at IBMA cause they
have at least one admirer waiting to hear
them.

Sierra is being highly touted as the next big
Bluegrass star. This CD reveals her as being
a fine mandolin and guitar player,
possessing a voice that could be a twin for
Allison Krauss. The musicians supporting her
include Ron Block (who also doubles as
co-producer), Dan Tyminski, Clay Hess, Barry
Bales, Jerry Douglas, Cory Walker, Stuart
Duncan, Jim VanCleve, Jason Moore, Tony
Rice, Rob Ickes, Dennis Crouch and Chris
Jones; heavyweights all. In fact, the only weak
spot on this CD package are the photographs
from the normally reliable Jim McGuire. Sierra
is only 16 and if this is First Base (to quote
another mandolin wunderkind, Chris Thile),
then Sierra Hull will become a major star and
there will be no Secrets about her.

RICKY SKAGGS & KENTUCKY THUNDER

"HONORING THE FATHERS OF BLUEGRASS:
TRIBUTE TO 1946 AND 1947"

SKAGGS FAMILY 6989010082

PRODUCED BY RICKY SKAGGS FOR SKAGGS
PLACE PRODUCTIONS

RICKY SKAGGS

"THE HIGH NOTES: A Collection of His
Greatest Country Hits From a BLUEGRASS
Perspective"

CRACKER BARREL NO CAT #

PRODUCED BY RON BLOCK AND SIERRA HULL

THE GRASCALS

"KEEP ON WALKIN'"

ROUNDER 11661 0608-2

PRODUCED BY THE GRASCALS

1. Going Back To Old Kentucky
2. Where You're Lonely
3. Toy Heart
4. It's Mighty Dark To Travel
5. Mother's Only Sleeping
6. Bluegrass Breakdown
7. Little Cabin Home On The Hill
8. Mansions For Me
9. Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong
10. Why Did You Wander
11. Remember The Cross
12. The Old Crossroad

1. Crying My Heart Out Over You
2. Heartbroke
3. Highway 40 Blues
4. I Wouldn’t Change You If I Could
5. You’ve Got A Lover
6. Cajun Moon
7. Honey (Open That Door)
8. Cat’s In The Cradle
9. Uncle Pen
10. Country Boy
11. Lovin’ Only Me
12. Somebody’s Prayin

1. Feeling Blue
2. Sad Wind Sighs
3. Choices
4. The Only Daddy That Will Walk The Line
5. Indiana
6. Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms
7. Today I Started Loving You Again
8. Can't You Hear That Whistle Blow
9. Remembering
10. Keep On Walkin'
11. Happy Go Lucky
12. Farther Along

It's most apt that the current master of
Bluegrass should honor his
predecessors. As one would expect
from Ricky and his boys this is a
superlative record and one that
probably no other group could pull off.
Deservedly, this CD went to #1 on the
Bluegrass charts.

Ricky signed to Epic in 1981 and had a
prolific Country music career until the
1990's when he returned to his
Bluegrass roots. Now Cracker Barrel
have released a CD of that material
re-recorded Bluegrass style. It proves
that great material will hold up however
it is cut. It is an interesting project and
unique because Ricky has been so
successful in both Country and
Bluegrass genres. This will sell well to
all of the many fans of Ricky Skaggs &
Kentucky Thunder.

More and more Bluegrass acts are
looking towards Country songwriters. In
this case, the Grascals has turned to
Billy Yates and Merle Haggard. During
the recording of this CD, fiddle player,
Jimmy Mattingly left the group and is
listed as a guest musician. The guest
vocals on "Sad Wind Sighs" is provided
by Vince Gill. Unlike it's predecessor
"Long List of Heartaches," Vince was
the only major guest. Recently, the
Grascals replaced their long time
publicist and I will be interested to see if
that makes any difference for them.
However, one thing I don't like and that
is the cover. It is soooo boring.

CADILLAC SKY

"GRAVITY'S OUR ENEMY"

SKAGGS FAMILY 6989020192

PRODUCED BY CADILLAC SKY AND MIKE
MARSHALL

MICHAEL CLEVELAND & FLAMEKEEPER

"LEAVIN' TOWN"

ROUNDER 11661-0596-2

PRODUCED BY JEFF WHITE AND MICHAEL
CLEVELAND

AUDEY RATLIFF

"PIECE OF CAKE"

DREAM WALK PRODUCTIONS DWP-821957-1

PRODUCED & ENGINEERED BY JAMES ALAN
SHELTON

1. U Stay Gone
2. Goodbye Story
3. Bible By The Bed
4. My Precious Waltz/I Hate How Happy She Is
5. Baby Don't Cry
6. Thank You Estebam (Instrumental)
7. Wouldn't Put It Past Love
8. Inside Joke
9. Everybody's Favorite
10. The Wreck
11. The Majestic Swan (Instrumental)
12. Carousel
13. It Won't Be Over You
14. 2 Good 2 Last

1. Sold Down The River
2. In My Mind To Ramble
3. My Blue Eyed Darling
4. I'm Feeling For You (But I Can't Reach You)
5. Northern White Clouds
6. Troubles 'Round My Door
7. Leavin' Town
8. Sunday Morning Christian
9. Jerusalem Ridge
10. I'm Ridin' This Train
11. Come Spring
12. When You Were Mine
13. Kickin' Back
14. Farewell For A Little While

1. Oh Lonesome Me
2. Early Morning Rain
3. Sleepy Eyed John
4. John Dig A Hole
5. Carolyn's Concerto
6. Twinkle Little Star
7. Raised By The Railroad Line
8. Cactus Polka
9. Pretty Little Miss
10. Heartland
11. Foggy Mountain Special
12. Goodbye & So Long To You
13. Piece Of Cake
14. Never On Sunday

If you are into Nickel Creek, Tony
Trischka, Mike Marshall and others of
the avante garde style of Bluegrass,
then you are going to love this. I
remember being impressed with
Cadillac Sky when I first saw them at
IBMA. This is their sophomore CD for
Skaggs and is a crowd pleaser. If you
are traditionalist then you may not get it
At times there are shades of Kurt Weil
about the music but that only serves to
make it more haunting.

I have been a Michael Cleveland
admirer for some while and this CD
proves a point that I have been pushing
for some while. What makes a
Bluegrass album special. Just listen
and you will see. The production fairly
leaps out of the grooves or whatever
one has these days. Todd Rakestraw is
a lead singer of whom we will be
hearing a lot. A first rate effort.

So I get this email about mandolin
maker Audey Ratliff's CD. So I email
him back and lo and behold down
comes this innocent looking package
which contains a little gem. This is one
of the best instrumental albums I have
heard in a very, very long time. The
tonal quality of Audey's instruments
should have every mandolin player
heading to Church Hill, Tennessee.
James Alan Shelton's production is
impeccable. This is a must have, must
play and must keep CD!!

BETH STEVENS & EDGE

"STRONG ENOUGH"

PINECASTLE PRC 1164

PRODUCED AND ENGINEERED BY SCOTT VESTAL
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: TOM RIGGS

TONY RICE

"NIGHT FLYER: THE SINGER SONGWRITER
COLLECTION"

ROUNDER 1166-11619-2

PRODUCED BY ANTHONY RICE AND BILL WOLF
+ PRODUCED BY RICKIE SIMPKINS
++ PRODUCED BY ANTHONY RICE
COMPILED BY ANTHONY RICE

CHERRYHOLMES

"III DON'T BELIEVE"

SKAGGS FAMILY 6989020202

PRODUCED BY BEN ISAACS

1. If I Knew Then What I Know Now
2. New Home
3. Back To Back Heartaches
4. Demons And Angels
(Duet With Steve Gulley)
5. Heading Out Of Heartache
6. Strong Enough
7. Close By
8. Time
9. Sweet Peace
(Duet With Dale Ann Bradley)
10. I Can Hear Your Voice
11. Echoes Of Love
12. Hands Of Time
13. The Filly And The Farm

1. Never Meant To Be *
2. Urge For Going
3. Me And My Guitar
4. St. James Hospital
5. John Wilkes Booth
6. Four Strong Wings
7. Night Flyer
8. He Rode All The Way To Texas +
9. About Love *
10. Changes
11. Sweetheart Like You
12. Green Light On The Southern
13. Hard Love
14. Why You Been Gone So Long
15. Wayfaring Stranger ++
16. Likes Of Me
17. Pony *

* Previously unreleased

1. I Can Only Love You (So Much)
2. The King As A Babe Comes Down
3. Don't Believe
4. This Is My Son
5. Sumatra
6. My Love For You Grows
7. Goodbye
8. Bleeding
9. The Sailing Man
10. Broken
11. Devil In Disguise
12. Mansker Spree/O'Coughlin's Reel
13. Traveler
14. UN NAMED TRACK

You may remember Beth Stevens from
the Stevens Family. The CD is
produced by Scott Vestal who you may
remember from Continental Divide and
is the creator of the Stealth Banjo. So
for me, all the ducks were in a row but
alas they weren't. There is just
something wrong here and I can't
pinpoint it. There seems to be pitch
variance between Beth's voice and
what is being played by everyone else. I
need to revisit this and try and discover
what is wrong but wrong something is.

This CD has been mainly culled from
four earlier Tony Rice releases for
Rounder and is faultless. Yes, I am a
big time Tony Rice admirer and this is
going to be a continuous driving
companion. Tony is joined by Kathy
Chiavola, Jimmy Gaudreau, Wyatt Rice,
Mark Schatz, Jerry Douglas, Jon
Carroll, Sam Bush, the late Vassar
Clements, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bill
Wolf, Cole Burgess, Rickie Simpkins,
Dan Tyminski, Ronnie Simpkins, Larry
Atamanuik, Todd Phillips and Bela
Fleck. This is a wonderful way of
discovering Tony's benchmark guitar
playing. Tony suffers with dysphonia
but even that seems to benefit his
vocals on Tom Waites' "Pony."

This, Cherryholmes' third CD for
Skaggs Family is without doubt their
best. The children are of course older
but they have also matured musically
and songwritingwise. Their songs have
moved away from Bluegrass
mainstream themes with songs such as
Cia Cherryhomes' "This Is My Song"
which is both political and socially
aware. Like their last CD, the images let
the side down and it is again the case
of burn the booklet, listen to the music.

KENNY & AMANDA SMITH BAND

"LIVE AND LEARN"

REBEL REB-CD-1828

PRODUCED BY KENNY & AMANDA SMITH BAND
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: MARK FREEMAN

RALPH STANLEY II

"THIS ONE IS II"

LONESOME DAY LDR 013

PRODUCED BY MIKE LATTERELL
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: RANDALL DEATON

1. Changing
2. Rambler's Blues
3. Do The Best You Can
4. Drive That Fast
5. Randall Collins
6. Cruel Willie
7. Just One More Time
8. I'd Jump The Mississippi
9. Words You Use
10. You're Gonna See Me Shine
11. Icicle Canyon
12. Heartbreak Express
13. Man Looks On The Outside

1. Cold Shoulder
2. Georgia
3. They Say I'll Never Go Home
4. L.A. County
(With Jim Lauderdale)
5. Train Songs
6. Moms Are The Reason Wild Flowers Grow
7. Carter
8. Honky Tonk Way
9. If This Old Guitar Could Talk
10. Loretta
11. Lord Help Me Find The Way

Kenny and Amanda always give value
for money on their releases. Kenny's
guitar playing is always a pleasure to
listen to and I am always amazed that
Amanda isn't nominated for female
vocal honors. On this their latest CD,
they blend old material and new and
original songs and outside ones.
Incidentally, anyone reading the liner
notes will see that "I'd Jump The
Mississippi" was written by George
Jones and Johnny Mathis. This is not
the pop singer, Johnny Mathis but
Country Johnny Mathis. My only
criticism is that the cover photograph is
skewed.

II is nobody's Junior. Straddling the
patch between Bluegrass and Country,
he proves to be adept at both. With
songs that range from writers such as
Garth Brooks to Elton John to Lyle
Lovett and Townes Van Zandt to Tom
T. Hall as well as a couple of self
penned numbers, he delivers a CD that
should find its way into everyone's
collection. Lending their fingers on this
CD are Tim Crouch, Cody Kilby, Randy
Kohrs, Harold Nixon, Adam Steffey, Ron
Stewart, Jim Lauderdale, Steve Gulley,
Darren Vincent, Marty Raybon and
Dale Anne Bradley.