Another year rolls around and memories of the bluegrass sounds of 2009 still float like sugar plums in my head. And, a lot of juicy plums there were in the past year, indeed a bad year for the national economy but quite robust in the realm of great bluegrass CDs.

As I look back on the past year, the wealth of bluegrass in the form of new CDs piled high. It’s evident that the genre’s tradition remains strong, but the tradition easily bends to let new creativity step in. I enjoy both sides of the music, as may be evident as I list my favorite albums of the past year. Here they are:

1. Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver’s “Lonely Street” overwhelmed everything that went into my CD player this past year. Incredibly strong vocals and harmony, as you always expect from any group Lawson puts together, steaming hot instrumental work from every corner of the band and just a darn good bunch of songs put this album over the top.

But the thing that really makes this CD shine is the production. Lawson, himself, gets credit for producer, and I give this traditionalist a bunch of credit for stepping out on the bluegrass limb a bit on this project. It has some non-traditional songs and even a subtle drum track on some cuts, but the percussion tracks don’t detract one iota from the bluegrass that’s being played.

More than the wise decisions that Lawson made on getting these songs honed to his idea of perfection is the actual sound production. Lonely Street has a fat sound that’s reminiscent of some classic country stuff that was recorded in the 1970s. It’s difficult to describe, but give this CD a listen and you’ll know what I mean.

In a discussion I had with Joey Cox, Quicksilver’s banjo picker, at an indoor festival in Illinois in November, I expressed what a terrific sound the CD has. Funny, said Cox, he’d heard the same thing from other fans. So, let’s give Van “The Man” Adkins a hand on this one. Adkins engineered and mastered the CD and did the remix with Lawson.

2. Like that pink bunny, Special Consensus just keeps ticking. The band, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, made a strong statement with its 2009 CD, “Signs,” my No. 2 album of the year.

A lot of fanfare and hype preceded the release of this CD, giving every indication that Special C and its founder Greg Cahill had suddenly entered the 21st Century with a new sound. Sorry, but after listening and listening and listening a lot to Signs, I find the three-decade-old Cahill spirit of playing bluegrass with a twist as strong and fresh as ever, but without any dramatic change in direction.

Signs is Special Consensus just being Special Consensus with a strong cast of pickers who follow Cahill’s hot and sometimes off-the-wall banjo playing, great vocals and some wonderful songs, including many that members of the band wrote.

Special Consensus, it seems, never gets the fanfare of a Daily & Vincent, Dr. Ralph Stanley or other bluegrass mega-acts, but Cahill always put together a dynamite aggregation that magically manages to produce the same, unique, pleasureable bluegrass music Cahill is known for.

3. Two CDs are going in this spot, so call it a tie. One is “Last Day of Galax” by Johnny Williams and the other is “Bluegrass & Beyond” by Bobby Osborne.

Williams, who certainly isn’t the bluegrass household name that Osborne is, has made his way in bluegrass more as a songwriter than a performer. That talent is quite evident on “Galax,” where he has written or co-written a bulk of the generous 15 cuts. He does borrow from other notable catalogs, including those of Hank Williams, Randall Hylton and Greg Allman. I love the title cut, which is a tribute to the renown Galax Fiddlers Convention.

Osborne, who’s been around bluegrass long before they even had bluegrass festivals, was also making records with his brother Sonny when bluegrass songs competed with commercial country material for a slot on the charts. This CD is evidence that Osborne doesn’t care what genre a song belongs in; if he likes it, he’ll treat it well. This one runs the gamut, doing covers of songs made famous by Eddie Rabbit to the Eagles to Loretta Lynn. All done in Bobby Osborne fashion. ‘Nuf said.

4. It took awhile for the goodness of No. 4 to sit in. I had to listen to The Gibson Brothers’ “Ring the Bell” for several times before it hit me: What a great bunch of tunes, what good songwriting there is on this CD.

And it all shines on the title track, which Leigh Gibson, describes as a catalyst to memories he has of growing up in a rural farming community in New York. It also pulls some memories about my own upbringing on the rich, prairie dirt of Illinois.

The entire CD is chalk full of good story songs – and I’m a sucker for good story songs, thus one reason it landed on my Top 5 list.

5. I can’t make up my mind here, so again, allow me one more tie: Russell Moore & Third Tyme Out’s self titled CD and Grasstowne’s “The Other Side of Towne.”

There is so much talent in these two groups and it all comes gushing out of the CD player in waves.

Grasstowne’s core is three longtime friends who have traveled many different roads with their bluegrass careers, but are now content to stick together and ride on the same bus. The bluegrass world is richer because of the long alliance of Phil Ledbetter, Alan Bibey and Steve Gulley. “The Other Side of Towne” is just another treasure from this group.

The same can be sound about Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out, a group that’s been together for years and consistently delivers top-notch bluegrass music to its legions of fans. Mediocrity doesn’t seem to fit into this group’s vocabulary.

Keeping both of these albums close at hand is a sure way to remind yourself what a wonderful, varied world bluegrass music is.

So, there it is, my Top 5 (7?) of 2009. No excuses for not grabbing some of the biggies. In fact, my list didn’t include a single one of the five nominees for Album of the Year at this year’s International Bluegrass Music Association awards show. And, those albums were certainly top-notch creations and worthy of the honor.

But my ears picked what my ears enjoyed the most. What were your favorite discs from 2009 ? Let us know in the comments section below.

Related Links

• Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
• Special Consensus
• Bobby Osborne
• The Gibson Brothers
• Grasstowne
• Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out