David Parmley "3 Silver Dollars" (Pinecastle Records)

Peaches and cream. Burgers and fries. Moms and apple pie.

David Parmley and honky-tonk music.

They’re all great combinations. Yes, indeed, Parmley is considered bluegrass and not honky-tonk country, thank you.

Nonetheless, the songs of broken hearts, cheatin’ spouses, lives just plain gone sour are David Parmley’s forte. I offer into evidence one of his signature concert tunes, the great Sanger D. “Whitey” Shafer classic, “I Never Go Around Mirrors.” Parmley can milk the pain, guts and tears from that barroom anthem with the best. By the best, I’m talking about guys like Haggard and Jones.

So, it’s heartening to hear that David Parmley & Continental Divide put a few of these cheatin’ and hurtin’ songs on the band’s new CD, 3 Silver Dollars, one of Pinecastle Records’ 20th Anniversary releases. For example, “Anniversary of the Blues” and “What You Can See From Your Knees” could have, under different circumstances, been on one of George Jones’ tear-stained set lists.Parmley gives fine interpretations of these pain-and-misery compositions.

But 3 Silver Dollars is not all gloom, doom and tears. The title cut, for example, is a Tom T. Hall gem about a guy down on his luck, but, like a lot of Tom T. creations, the story puts a smile on your face. Continental Divide also offers up a rousing version of a Pete Seeger tune that I’d never heard, “Winsborough Cotton Mill blues.” Like many of Seeger’s songs, this one has a strong tinge of hard times and pro-labor politics, but like “3 Silver Dollars,” it has a real delightful delivery.

Parmley mixes the tracks up well here, offering the sweet “Meadow on the Mountain (Where Momma Used to Pray)” and a couple of nice out-and-out gospel offerings, “Lilly Still Blooms in the Dell” and “God Reached Down.”

The latter tune is one of two songs on the CD written by Continental Divide’s newest addition, Ron Spears on vocals and mandolin. In fairness, I concede to some prejudice here since I’m a Ron Spears fan. I first saw him when he was performing with Chicago-based Special Consensus. He could flat-out bring a crowd to its feet with his powerful vocals. Spears’ two tunes on 3 Silver Dollars also attest to his very capable songwriting abilities. He gets the opportunity to take the lead vocal on his fine ballad, “Carolina Rain.”

Spears’ entry into the Continental Divide lineup signals a major change for the band — and especially for Parmley. Spears replaced Randy Graham, who decided to get off the road and lead a more stay-at-home lifestyle as a band promoter.

Long live David Parmley and his penchant for honky-tonk and heartaches.

For Parmley, Graham’s departure had to be akin to Buck Owens losing his famed sidekick, Don Rich. Graham and Parmley’s history dates to the 1960s when they were both in Parmley’s father’s pioneering band, The Bluegrass Cardinals. Graham’s high background harmonies and stage presence as the Continental Divide’s affable front man became signatures for the band.

3 Silver Dollars is Continental Divide’s first CD since Graham’s departure. Perhaps the closeness of the harmony vocals isn’t quite up to the Parmley-Graham benchmark, but it’s well done — and at times, just downright outstanding. “God Reached Down,” the Spears gospel tune, is a good example.

Spears is also quite adequate with his mandolin contributions to 3 Silver Dollars, and Dale Perry, the band’s banjo picker, is rock-solid as a Scruggs disciple could be. But the real instrumental standout that weaves its way throughout this CD is the dazzling fiddle of guest artist Ron Stewart. Little wonder that Stewart’s talents are in high demand on the bluegrass studio scene.

Fans of Parmley and Continental Divide are going to be extremely satisfied with this new recording.

So will bluegrass fans who have migrated to the genre after realizing that true country music, ala Haggard and Jones, is becoming a vanishing art. Long live David Parmley and his penchant for honky-tonk and heartaches.