Jessie Baker serves up an earful of tasty tunes for the 5-string banjo with his solo debut disc “Yessir!” on the Patuxent Music label.

Like water dancing on a hot skillet, Jessie’s notes come popping from this disc in a way that captures the fire of two of Bakers’ banjo heroes, Don Reno and Earl Scruggs.

Still in his teens, Jessie Baker has synthesized the playing of these iconic banjo pickers into a style that is uniquely his own. Carrying the traditional sound into the future is what “Yessir!” is all about.

“Yessir!” is driven by Baker’s fiery right hand through 13 tracks. Whether its the adrenaline-fueled tempo of “Johnson Mountain Chimes” or the beautiful “Jesus Savior Pilot Me,” Baker’s clean picking and sensibility for note placement and choice put a spark into each performance.

“Yessir!” brings fellow Flamekeeper band mates Michael Cleveland (fiddle) and Marshall Wilborn (bass) together with Dudley Connell (guitar) and David Mclaughlin (mandolin) as the core of the backing band on the disc. “Yessir!” also features guest spots from Audie Blaylock, Nate Leath, Patrick McAvinue and Barry Reid.

– adapted from a Patuxent Music press release.

“Yessir!” track listing

1. Follow The Leader
2. San Antonio Rose
3. Banjo Fling
4. Nine Pound Hammer
5. Boston Boy
6. Banjo Riff
7. Johnson Mountain Chimes
8. Bury Me Beneath The Willow
9. Yessir!
10. Suwannee River Hoedown
11. Sugarloaf Mountain Special
12. Jesus Savior Pilot Me
13. Farewell Blues