I just got the first NRPS album on CD over the weekend, and that led me to this Youtube clip: Some fine mandolin work here.
If you like Tony Rice, I suggest you also check out Brian Sutton and Dan Crary. Both great pickers in their own way, but in that Tony Rice vein. When I saw The Bluegrass Sessions Band in October 1999 at Town Hall in NYC, Brian Sutton filled in for Tony. I was very impressed and sought out his records. He can also be found backing up some big acts, Dolly Parton coming to mind for one. Dan Crary's albums can be found easily and cheap enough, and all are great. The usual suspects backing him up.
Didn't he play on a lot of the 'Pickin' On' series? I've got his Psychograss album somewhere around here.
I heard a song recently I can't track down. It's a guy introducing several great pickers, followed by a short but tasty interlude by each guy, the two I remember hearing were Merle Travis and Luther Perkins. Anyone familiar with this tune? THX!
I'm not really a fan of bluegrass, and yet one of my favorite albums is "So Long So Wrong" by Alison Krauss & Union Station. Besides other albums by this band and Alison as a solo artist, can someone recommend any other albums along these lines?
Tony Rice - "Nightflyer" Tony Rice is the inspiration for /idol of AK. Nightfligher is a great compilation of singer-songwriter -bluegrass style similar to the style of AK. Plus you get the insanely great guitar-playing of Tony Rice.
^Speaking of Danny Barnes, he has a new bluegrass album out called Stove Up. Here is a live version of a song from it.
Another great banjo album fro the late great Bill ("Brad") Keith! Some tracks recorded by my friend Jack here in Connecticut. Personnel: Bill Keith (banjo); Jim Rooney (vocals, guitar); David Grier, Eric Weissberg, Craig Vance, Mark Howard, Eddie Diehl (guitar); Gordon Titcomb (steel guitar, mandolin); Tony Trischka (banjo); Sam Bush (mandolin); Kenny Kosek, Larry Packer, Mark O'Connor (fiddle). Check this article out: https://bluegrasstoday.com/fleck-trischka-and-friends-honor-bill-keith-at-grey-fox-banjo-summit/
That's one of my favorites along with Down On A Georgia Farm. Nancy Blake played cello but also guitar and mandolin a lot with Norman and The Rising Fawn String Ensemble.
More Bill Keith: This is the song medley that Bill played backstage at The Opry in 1962, as a guest of Earl Scruggs. Bill Monroe heard it and immediately afterwards had Kenny Baker approach Bill Keith with this message: "If you ever want a job with Bill Monroe, you've got it." Bill eventually did, but had to work under the name of Brad, as Monroe's ego couldn't have another "Bill" in the band. This was originally recorded for an album with Jim Rooney and Joe Val and others called "Livin' On the Mountain." Nine of those songs can be found on this collection:
I've got that but I never play it. I can't separate it from the disturbing images of the movie. I also feel it perpetuates an ignorant stereotype of rural culture. Other than that it's a good movie and soundtrack.
My friend, I heard a song from that album played by Andy Griffith long before that movie came out. I love the blue grass sound of those pickers on that album, that banjo just is smoking hot. Maybe they should change the picture on the album, and just call it Blue grass classic from back in the day?
I don't have the CD, but i do have the tune on a couple of (self-created) compilations. I hear it near St. Patrick's day because one of them is a mix of Irish traditional with a couple of banjo/bluegrass tunes. (with both Irish and Appalachian versions of "good old Mountain Dew." ) I've never seen the film so I don't have to worry about any negative associations.