CD: Lonesome River Band: Talking To Myself

Sugar Hill SUG-CD-3913 Tracks: Swing That Hammer / Talking To Myself / Dog Gone Shame / The Place Where You Can Bury Me / No One Can Love You Dear (The Way I Do) / Mary Ann / Are You Ashamed To Call Me Darlin' / Harvest Time / The Crime I Didn't Do / Willow Garden / Do You Want To Live In Glory / I Won't Be Calling For You By Ivon Evans This 12 track CD is the latest release by the Lonesome River Band. This is the first CD by the band in my own collection, although I have fine solo CD's by Ronnie Bowman and Don Rigsby. The full line up is: Ronnie Bowman, bass guitar, lead and baritone vocals; Don Rigsby, mandolin, lead and tenor vocals; Sammy Shelor, banjo, guitar and baritone vocals; Kenny Smith, rhythm and lead guitar; and Rickie Simpkins, fiddle and baritone vocals. Former band member Dan Tyminski sings tenor on one track. Although it is not listed who sings what on each song, Ronnie Bowman sings lead mostly. The singing and playing is very impressive throughout. Swing That Hammer provides a nice lively start to the CD with a fiddle intro and lots of banjo. Talking To Myself, written by Ronnie Bowman and Craig Market, has a banjo intro and is a song about a love not listening. 'Curly' Ray Cline and Ralph Stanley wroteDog Gone Shame, which is a story of love gone wrong. The Place Where You Can Bury Me was written by Gerald Ellenburg, and is a song about childhood memories and wanting to come back home at the end of his days, gentle fiddle and nice harmonies. No One Can Love You Dear (the way I do) is a lively song with prominent banjo and a fiddle ending. Mary Ann has a gentle lilting vocal, nice harmonies and lots of fiddle and mandolin. Are You Ashamed To Call Me Darlin' has a high lonesome vocal with soaring harmonies. A story of mountain life is told in Harvest Time, with a plaintiff vocal and gentle backing. The Crime I Didn't Do, written by Wayne Winkle and Craig Market, is a haunting tale of mistaken identity. Willow Garden is an old chestnut, and is a morbid murder song recorded at quite a lively pace with a high lonesome sound. The lively gospel song, Do You Want To Live In Glory, is next. I won't be calling for you is a good rousing song to finish with, and provides all the musicians the chance to stretch out a bit. If this is the future of bluegrass music it is good hands. Highly recommended, worth adding to any collection. Ivon Evans, Sunderland 1st Dec 2000