New bluegrass music releases
Keith Lawrence
Issue date: 1/26/09 Section: Entertainment
Audie Blaylock served a long apprenticeship in bluegrass before stepping out to front his own band.
In 1982, when he was 19, Blaylock won a slot with Jimmy Martin & The Sunny Mountain Boys. For the next nine years, he learned the business from a legend.
Since then, Blaylock has worked with such top groups as Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper featuring Audie Blaylock, which won the instrumental group of the year award from the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2007.
With those credentials, fans can expect a strong album from the group's debut on the Rural Rhythm label. The first two singles, "Lonesome Weary Heart", a hard-driving plea for a woman to come back where she belongs, and "Whispering Waters", an uptempo suicide song, are both having chart success.
The band, Jason Johnson (mandolin), Patrick McAvinue (fiddle), Matt Wallace (bass) and Evan Ward (banjo), is on top of its game with tight harmonies and strong picking.
Blaylock is one of the genre's best vocalists.
There's a lot of heartache and tragedy in these songs, like most bluegrass songs, but, in most cases, they're set to a lively beat. There is an a cappella quartet "Who'll Sing for Me?"; traditional songs "My Darling's Last Goodbye" and "My Blue Eyed Darling"; a gospel tune written by Jimmy Martin and Paul Williams "Goodbye" and a lot more.
In 1982, when he was 19, Blaylock won a slot with Jimmy Martin & The Sunny Mountain Boys. For the next nine years, he learned the business from a legend.
Since then, Blaylock has worked with such top groups as Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper featuring Audie Blaylock, which won the instrumental group of the year award from the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2007.
With those credentials, fans can expect a strong album from the group's debut on the Rural Rhythm label. The first two singles, "Lonesome Weary Heart", a hard-driving plea for a woman to come back where she belongs, and "Whispering Waters", an uptempo suicide song, are both having chart success.
The band, Jason Johnson (mandolin), Patrick McAvinue (fiddle), Matt Wallace (bass) and Evan Ward (banjo), is on top of its game with tight harmonies and strong picking.
Blaylock is one of the genre's best vocalists.
There's a lot of heartache and tragedy in these songs, like most bluegrass songs, but, in most cases, they're set to a lively beat. There is an a cappella quartet "Who'll Sing for Me?"; traditional songs "My Darling's Last Goodbye" and "My Blue Eyed Darling"; a gospel tune written by Jimmy Martin and Paul Williams "Goodbye" and a lot more.
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