Johnny Williams "Last Day of Galax" (Mountain Roads Recordings)

Bluegrass veteran songwriter and performer Johnny Williams has hit paydirt with his new CD, Last Day of Galax, on Mountain Roads Recordings.

Paydirt, as in bonanza, pure gold, a magic that weaves throughout the 15 tracks, 11 of which Williams wrote or co-wrote.

I say “magic,” but I misspeak. It’s well-polished talent that shines through, from the singing, the songwriting to the powerful instrumentation, not by Nashville superpickers, but as Williams describes them, “some of the finest pickers and singers in this part of the U.S.,” which would be Williams’ home state of Virginia.

Among the supporting cast, in fact playing a prominent role, is Williams’ wife, Jeanette, who plays bass and sings harmony. She even steps up into a lead vocal role, most notably on the cutesy duet, “Your Love Holds the Key,” which Williams almost assuredly wrote for himself and his longtime spouse and music partner.

The title cut, written in 1994, is “a reflection of spending a week at the Galax Fiddler’s Convention,” Williams writes in the liner notes. And many of the songs, he points out, are not new creations, but have some dust on them. Subject-wise, the tunes run the gamut, from the funny “Country Living’s Changing Every Day,” to the lost-love anthem, “Back to My Old Ways of Living,” to the Civil War days in “Sins of War.”

Williams and Tom T. and Dixie Hall co-wrote a couple of gems here, “Papa Loved Ringing that Bell,” and “What are you Trying to Say?”

And, country music just doesn’t get any more pure that Williams’ interpretation of the Hank Williams classic, “I Can’t Help It If I’m Still in Love With You,” all the way down to the non-pedal steel guitar moaning and crying so effectively in the background.

Veteran that he is, Williams isn’t afraid of trying something a little newer, such as Greg Allman’s “Midnight Rider,” done here in a romping bluegrass style.

The CD’s final track, “Let That Someone Be You,” is purely a solo effort, just Williams on guitar and vocals, delivering an emotion-packed message about being left alone in the final years of life.

The fine musicians on this CD and others in supporting roles that Williams credits are Amber Collins, Debbie Yates, Kathleen O’Coonell, Tony Made, Chase Johner, Billy Hawks and Kenneth Berrier.

Greg Cahill of Special Consensus and current president of the International Bluegrass Music Association, does the honors with the guest liner notes. He offers such a fitting description of Johnny Williams, one I couldn’t begin to top. Cahill calls this veteran performer “the real deal.” How dead on.

I can’t imagine any bluegrass fan not enjoying Last Day of Galax and putting it in a prominent place in the CD collection. Guaranteed, it will be played more than once.