Doc Watson on Stage at Bluegrass First Class in Asheville, NC 2008. Photo by Thomas Stout

Doc Watson and Jack Lawrence on Stage at Bluegrass First Class in Asheville, NC 2008. Photo by Thomas Stout.

J.D. Crowe and Tony Rice on stage at Bluegrass First Class in Asheville, NC 2008. Photo by Thomas Stout.

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Special Consensus - Trail of Aching Hearts

So, what’s my favorite bluegrass CDs of 2007? When that question was first asked of me, I thought, easy, no-brainer. It was wham, wham … and well, er, uh, mmmmm, I stammered. Gee, I dunno. I’m gonna have to think about that.

First, those two whams.

No, no, no! First the rules of this little exercise. Rule No. 1: I’m making up the rules as I go. Rule No. 2: There are no rules. Rule No. 3: Please refer back to rule No. 2.

Next, a preface is in order. I’m not a fanatical CD buyer. My dear friend Rickey Lamb, who is a regular contributor to BluegrassJournal.com, buys several CDs a month. Perhaps, a week. From many different genres, bluegrass included. That’s not me. I just can’t find the time to listen to that many CDs. I’ll go to a bluegrass festival, come home with 4 to 6 CDs, and spend the next month trying to digest them.

Only a tiny handful of CDs come out each year that have me slobbering to get my hands on them. One was Merle Haggard’s bluegrass CD that hit the stores in October. Another project I stewed and walked the floor over until it finally came out was IIIrd Tyme Out’s long-awaited DVD of a concert at the Mountain Arts Center in Kentucky. I waited for two years to get my hands on that DVD — and after I got it, waited a couple of months before watching it.

So, here’s the bottom line on my preface: I don’t go shopping for every CD that shows up on the charts. As a result, my Top 3 CDs of 2007 are gleaned from a very limited list. So, here goes:

Greg Cahill, the Special Consensus founder, and his band of very capable vocalists and instrumentalists, created a real masterpiece with “The Trail of Aching Hearts.”

No. 1, hands down is “The Trail of Aching Hearts” by Special Consensus.

No. 2 is “Lefty’s Old Guitar” by J.D. Crowe & The New South.

No. 3: I’m not saying yet, so keep reading. (And, also keep Rules. No. 1 and 2 in mind.)

Greg Cahill, the Special Consensus founder, and his band of very capable vocalists and instrumentalists, created a real masterpiece with “The Trail of Aching Hearts.” It runs the gamut of what bluegrass has become today. There’s the traditional “Branded Wherever I Go,” which is a Flatt & Scruggs tune. Add the classic country factor with Hank Snow’s “Down the Trail of Broken Hearts” and a great, but nearly forgotten Marty Robbins’ tune, “The Shoe Goes on the Other Foot Tonight.” And, yes, there’s the non-bluegrass tune from left field, in this case Irving Berlin’s classic “Blue Skies,” which has become a popular staple on the Special Consensus concert set list. Then, providing a shade of newgrass is “Ten Mile Tennessee,” a pretty little melody paying tribute to a place we all long for, where the living is pretty darned easy and where the world is best viewed from a rocking chair on a front porch on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Putting a little icing on this CD’s cake is the vocal work of mandolin player Ron Spears, who was a real standout in his tenure with Special Consensus. Spears, who recently joined David Parmley & Continental Divide, contributed two of his own songs to my favorite CD of the year.

It’s just difficult to put “The Trail of Aching Hearts” anyplace but at the top. And, it’s really nice to see that Cahill and his band have enjoyed a fair amount of success on the charts with the album.

JD Crowe & the New South - Lefty’s Old Guitar

I also really enjoy hearing Rickey Wasson’s vocal work with J.D. Crowe’s New South. So much so, that admittedly may be a reason why “Lefty’s Old Guitar” lands at the No. 2 spot of my 2007 favorites.

When I originally reviewed this CD in summer, I took note that Crowe’s current edition of the New South has held the same lineup for the past few years. That, indeed, gives the band a rock-solid sound, both instrumentally and vocally, which usually features Wasson on lead vocal, mandolin player Dwight McCall on the high harmony and Crowe on the baritone part. It’s a winning combination.

The title cut refers to the late Lefty Frizzell’s guitar feeling a bit lonesome, unplayed and hanging in the Country Music Hall of Fame. It’s a poignant tribute to a country music legend who inspired many singers, among them Merle Haggard. So, it’s no surprise that a Haggard tune, “In My Next Life,” is one Rickey Wasson’s strongest vocal efforts on the CD.

Ronnie Stewart’s great fiddle work also adds plenty to the tracks. And, did I mention, J.D. Crowe continues to be a hard-driving, on-the-money banjo player? This Rounder release has also enjoyed plenty of chart success this past year — and deservingly so.

So, if you’ve stayed with me through all of the above, it’s time to exercise my privilege of having no rules. I have a tie for my No. 3 spot, shared by an album that came out in 2006, and a CD that hasn’t even hit the market and won’t be until early 2008.

Nothin’ Fancy - 7

The 2006 effort is “#7″ by Nothin’ Fancy and the new, unreleased project is “Vincent & Dailey,” which will be released in late January. Here’s why I’m putting them both on my 2007 list: I never acquired “#7″ until this year, and I got my first advance listen to “Vincent & Dailey” earlier this month.

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: Nothin’ Fancy is one of bluegrass music’s most underrated bands. All of their CDs (this is the seventh) shine. The band’s concert appearances more than shine, they glow.

“#7″ has a great song lineup filled with new tunes, old tunes and standards, including one of my favorites, Charlie Waller’s “Two Little Boys.” Like my No. 1 and 2 picks, “#7″ also pays homage to classic country with the Tom T. Hall song, “I Washed My Face in the Morning Dew” and the old Johnny Rodriguez country hit, “Pass Me By.”

As with most of Nothin’ Fancy’s CDs, Chris Sexton’s fiddle work (and viola work, cello work, etc .) is a true work of art.

Dailey & Vincent

“Dailey & Vincent” — that’s Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent — are set to release a CD that will become a classic. The instrumental work is many notches above adequate and the vocal work — well, it’s just out of sight. You can find my review of their debut CD on Rounder Records elsewhere on www.bluegrass journal.com.

Suffice it to say that what I heard on this advance copy made me temporarily forget some of the great bluegrass music that was released in 2007. Perhaps that’s another reason why this 2008 CD makes my 2007 list.

Meanwhile, I’m waiting for 2008 and a bunch of new, terrific bluegrass music that is out there, waiting to be released.

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J.D. Crowe photo by Steve Mobley

J.D.’s dot com has a new look

J.D. Crowe & the New South have a new, contemporary Web site up and running … kind of.
Look for it at http://www.jdcrowe.net. The home page is slick, but a lot of the links to other areas of the site show they are still under construction.

Crowe & his gang, meanwhile, have a busy schedule through the end of the year. Here’s a look;

August

18 -Porter Center for the Performing Arts, Brevard, NC
25 - Georgetown Bluegrass Festival - Brown County Fairgrounds, Georgetown, OH
30 - J.D. Crowe & The New South Festival - Ichthus Farm, Wilmore KY
31 - J.D. Crowe & The New South Festival - Ichthus Farm, Wilmore KY

September

8 - Dassel-Cokato Performing Arts Center, Cokato, MN
9 - East Troy Bluegrass Festival - East Troy Town Square, East Troy, WI
14 - Starvy Creek Bluegrass Festival - Starvy Creek Park, Conway, MO
18 - Dollywood Bluegrass Festival, Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, TN
19 - Dollywood Bluegrass Festival, Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, TN
21 - Uncle Pen Days Bluegrass festival - Bill Monroe Memorial Park, Bean Blossom, IN
22 - Uncle Pen Days Bluegrass festival - Bill Monroe Memorial Park, Bean Blossom, IN
28 - Albino Skunk Bluegrass Festival - Albino Skunk Festival Grounds, Greer, SC
29 - Oktoberfest - Christ The King School, Lexington, KY

October

5 - IBMA Fan Fest - Nashville Convention Center, Nashville, TN
12 - John Stuart Fall Festival - Dreamfield Productions Outdoor Amphitheater, Collinsville, AL
13 - John Stuart Fall Festival - Dreamfield Productions Outdoor Amphitheater, Collinsville, AL
26 - The Old Rock School, Valdese, NC
27 - The Handlebar, Greenville, SC

November

3 - Onstage Concert Series - Johnston Community College, Smithfield, NC
10 - Greater Downstate Bluegrass Festival - Crown Plaza Hotel, Springfield, IL.
16 - Southern Ohio Indoor Music Festival - Robert’s Centre, Wilmington, OH.

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Just as my 87-year old mother likes to conjure up exciting memories of going to the mail box to find that her new 78-of Roy Acuff or Bob Wills she’d ordered from Sears had arrived, I long for the days of LPs and all those photos and liner notes you could digest at your leisure while your new album had arrived.

CDs and their fine print all too often have me hunting up a magnifying glass, but even with the power of the “extra eyes,” I sometimes find the tiny letters too difficult to read. Thankfully and thoughtfully, the name of the liner notes’ author on “Lefty’s Old Guitar” was in a type size I could read without any help. Open the first page of the CD cover and there it is, at the bottom right corner on Page 2: “Eddie Stubbs.” When WSM’s kingpin of all things bluegrass and old country has something to say, I listen. Or in this case, read. Read more

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