Longview “Deep in the Mountains” (Rounder)

True-blue bluegrass fanatics, rejoice! Longview is back!

Not just back, but roaring back, soaring back like a shuttle launch in Florida.

Rocket science? You bet. Don Rigsby, an original member of the bluegrass super-group, even sounds a bit like a scientist in discussing the latest Longview project.

“When I’m playing, my goal is to make them all sound good; and that’s their goal, too,” Rigsby comments in a press release announcing the April 8 release of Longview’s “Deep in the Mountains” on the Rounder label. “Because if I can’t make them sound good, they’re not going to be able to make me sound good. That’s just one of the laws; the whole is no greater than the sum of its parts. That’s bluegrass physics.”

Hmmmm, heady stuff, there, Mr. Rigsby. But your theory, your “law,” as you call it, is proven well on every track of “Deep in the Mountains.”

This is Longview’s fourth CD and the first in six years. It features a revised lineup from the original band that included Rigsby, James King, Dudley Connell, Marshall Wilborn, Joe Mullins and Glen Duncan.

The 2008 version has Connell, Mullins and Duncan out of the mix and replaced by J.D. Crowe on banjo, Ron Stewart on fiddle and Lou Reid on guitar.

Crowe follows Rigsby’s line of thinking about the band, but in a less scientific analogy. “You have to have a band sound, be a unit,” he says. “Just like a baseball team, one man can’t win it. And that’s kind of what Longview is all about …”

So much for the philosophy and the hype. How’s the CD sound, you ask? Well, a few one-word descriptions come to mind: Awesome. Powerful. Energized. Terrific.

The band’s lineup leaves little doubt that the instrumentation on “Deep in the Mountains” is going to be top-notch — and it certainly is that. Nobody picks hard-driving, traditional banjo quite like Crowe, and nobody does fill-in and background fiddle licks quite like Ron Stewart. Throw in the factor that Stewart, up until recently, was a member of Crowe’s The New South for quite a few years, and you can guess the magic these two masters yield in the Longview setting.

But the pure joy this band exudes doesn’t lie so much in the instrumentation as it does the vocal work. It’s incredibly good — as good as any version of Longview, maybe even a dollop or two better, with Lou Reid’s voice now part of the formula. Reid takes the lead on the CD’s first cut, “Eating Out of Your Hand;” the old Jim and Jesse tune, “I’ll Love Nobody But You;” and the Louvin Brothers’ “I’m Gonna Love You One More Time.”

Rigsby, with his high-in-the-sky tenor, also steps into the lead vocal role on “Room at the Top of the Stars,” “Old Log Cabin” and “At the First Fall of Snow.”

Then, there’s James King and his powerful, soulful vocals. Where Reid, and even to a greater extent, Rigsby, have that polished, high-lonesome sound, King brings Longview deep down to earth with his dirt-farmer, gritty vocal deliveries. His contrasting style is especially effective on an old Whitey Shafer-Dallas Frazier song, “Baptism of Jesse Taylor.”

The CD has one instrumental, a rousing Ron Stewart arrangement of the old fiddle tune, “Cotton Eyed Joe.” It’s a scorcher.

You can’t help but believe that “Deep in the Mountains” is going to be a huge success. It has the right pickers, the right singers, the right songs. To follow Rigsby’s way of thinking, every element in the handbook of bluegrass physics is here — and in just the right combination.

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Bluegrass on the Tuesday night Opry

Cherryholmes will perform on Tuesday, April 1 on the Opry. They will perform on the 8:30-9:00 PM Slot.

The Grand Ole Opry is broadcast live on WSM 650 AM radio, online at www.WSMonline.com and on XM Satellite Radio (XM 11). All listed times are central time.

Preview The Gibson Brother’s “Iron and Diamonds”

Sugar Hill Records has teamed up with CMT offering a free preview of The Gibson Brother’s newest project “Iron and Diamonds.” CMT’s website has the entire album available to preview. “Iron and Diamonds” will be officially released on April 8th.

“Bill Cheathum” Kenny Smith, Wyatt Rice and David Grier Live

This clip is an excerpt from the Kenny Smith, Wyatt Rice, and David Grier “Live in Concert” DVD release by Flatpicking Guitar Magazine and FGM Records. Here Kenny, David, and Wyatt are trading solos on the flatpicking standard “Bill Cheathum.” The entire concert DVD is available at www.flatpickingmercantile.com

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Burlington, MA – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have just completed a new video for “Please Read the Letter” – the second single off of their celebrated T Bone Burnett-produced album Raising Sand. Set in a sparsely decorated gothic mansion, the video offers an elegant and haunting visual companion to the Robert Plant and Jimmy Page penned tune from the album. “Please Read the Letter” which debuted yesterday on CMT, was shot in Los Angeles by director Rocky Schenck.

Click here to see the video for “Please Read the Letter.”

Raising Sand (Rounder Records) was recently certified RIAA Platinum, and garnered a Grammy® award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for the track “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On).” Plant and Krauss are set to embark on a world tour with a band led by T Bone Burnett beginning on April 19th in Louisville, KY.

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Time Jumper’s to make GAC’s “Opry Live” Debut

Nashville, Tenn. — Grammy nominated The Time Jumpers will make their debut appearance on GAC’s “Opry Live” this Saturday (March 29). “Part-time Jumper” Vince Gill will also appear on the show and will sit in with the band. The Time Jumpers are scheduled to perform their Grammy nominated version of “Sweet Memories,” as well as other tunes from their current album Jumpin’ Time.

“Opry Live” airs at 8:00 PM ET. A complete list of airtimes are below.

• March 29, 2008 8:00 PM ET
• March 30, 2008 12:00 AM ET
• March 30, 2008 12:00 PM ET
• March 30, 2008 7:00 PM ET
• April 01, 2008 8:00 PM ET

Williams family exhibit begins long run at Hall of Fame

“Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy” opens today, March 28, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn. The exhibit will run through December 31, 2009. The exhibit will depict the relationships that inspired Williams and his progeny to create songs that stand among the greatest, most influential country music ever recorded according to the Hall of Fame’s website.

“The Williams family story may seem familiar. However, this exhibit will take the visitor inside the family to revisit the life and impact of Hank Williams, examine the struggles and musical successes of his only son, Randall Hank Williams, and study the direct descendants, who are now striving within a new generation of artists, all measuring themselves by the example of Hank Williams.” Kyle Young - Museum Director

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Stacy York “Kentucky in the Rain” (Blue Circle Records)

I’d never heard Stacy York sing until a promotional copy of her new CD, “Kentucky in the Rain,” came across my desk. I confess, my first glimpse of the CD told me it was one to put on the back burner, something I’d get to on a rainy day in Illinois. It just had that semi-pro look — not a lot of splashy, eye-catching graphics on the cover and, hmmm, room enough on the back page of the insert to promote a car dealership, a photographer and a Holiday Inn Express.

Well, I didn’t wait. I gave it a good listen a couple days after receiving the CD, which is on Tom T. and Miss Dixie Hall’s Blue Circle Records label. I’ve been listening for several days now and my conclusion: Forget the rains and the clouds, this gal shines when she sings.

York has been associated for several years with Joe Isaacs & Mountain Bluegrass, so it’s no surprise that Isaacs and several members of his prominent musical family play supporting roles on several tracks. Needless to say, the Isaacs know how to embellish a good thing.

York has one of those strong, pure voices that’s crystal clear and well suited for the material she chose for “Kentucky in the Rain.” It glistens right out of the starting gate, on the first track, the title cut, which was written by the Halls. Tom T. even makes an appearance on the cut with some fine bluegrass rhythm guitar playing that has all the bass runs tucked in all the right places. In fact, before I even knew it was Hall playing guitar, my ears perked up at the production on the song, which gives the rhythm guitar an unusual prominence in the mix.

York tackles some standards on this CD with gusto. Notable are Bill Monroe’s “Can’t You Hear Me Calling,” and Carter Stanley’s “I’ll Just Go Away.” The Halls have another delightful tune on the track list, a swing-style ditty called, “I Don’t See What I Once Saw in You.” York also gives special treatment to the country classic-sounding, “Where the Roses Never Fade.”

Joe Isaacs brings his hard-driving banjo style on most of the cuts and also adds the harmony vocals on the bulk of the CD. He also steps up to sing lead on an Onie Wheeler tune that’s become a bluegrass gospel standard, “Go Home.”

Others handling instrumental chores are Rebecca Isaacs Bowman on rhythm guitar, Curnie Lee Wilson on lead guitar, Jesse Stockman on fiddle and Sonya Isaacs on mandolin.

Co-production credits go to York and Joe Isaacs.

“Kentucky in the Rain” veers little off the beaten path of traditional bluegrass. But York’s pleasant voice is strong enough to hold the attention of bluegrassers, newgrassers and even fans of classic country.

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