Jason Barie, The Past is Present (Pinecastle Records, www.pinecastle.com)

Ten of fifteen cuts are originals on this traditional bluegrass debut featuring Jason Barie’s work on fiddle, mandolin, guitar and vocals. Several instrumentals are included, and lead vocals are also contributed by Timmy Massey, David Guthrie and Jaime Crain. Included: “Monroe’s Old Homeplace,” “Sarah Lynn Waltz,” “Custom Coach,” “That’s How I Can Count on You,” “How Great Thou Art” and more.  

Cats & the Fiddler, Down the Fast Lane (catsandthefiddler@comcast.net)

Although the members of this Detroit-based bluegrass trio are only 12 years old, they’ve already been playing music together for six years and this is their second album.  Twin brothers Shaun and James Richardson and their cousin, Carmen Gibes all sing. James plays bass, Carmen plays lead & rhythm guitar and banjo, and Shaun plays mandolin, guitar, banjo and fiddle. Shaun composed the title track, and additional cuts were written by Gretchen Peters, Jerry Salley, Bill Monroe, Dolly Parton, Hank Williams and more.

Jason Davis, Steppin’ Out (Pinecastle Records, www.pinecastle.com)

Jason Davis, with Grasstowne, steps to center stage in his debut for the Pinecastle label, backed up by Tim Stafford, Alan Bibey, Zackary McLamb, Justen Haynes, Ron Stewart and Phil Leadbetter.  Junior Sisk, Russell Moore and Steve Gulley sing the leads. In addition to a couple of originals, material comes from Alan Bibey, Randall Hylton, Loretta Lynn, Carter Stanley, Bill Monroe and more.

Gary Ferguson and Friends, Live at Podunk (Patuxent Records, www.pxrec.com)

Recorded live on August 6, 2005 at the Podunk Bluegrass Festival in East Hartford, Conn., lead singer/guitarist Gary Ferguson is joined onstage by Mike Auldridge, Gail Wade, Ron Stewart, Emory Lester, Kene Hyatt and Marc Roy.  Along with four originals, songs written by Iris Dement, Mike Auldridge, Guy Clark, Uncle Josh Graves, Ryan Adams, Emory Lester and Charlie Monroe are featured.

G2 Bluegrass Band, Where the Tall Grass Grows (Cosmos Records, www.g2bluegrassband.com)

The latest from the G2 Bluegrass Band based in Stockholm, Sweden demonstrates why the group was named “#1 European Bluegrass Band” at the European World of Bluegrass (EWOB) in 2007. “G2” stands for “second generation;” all the band members learned to play bluegrass from their parents. In liner notes Jon Weisberger says, “G2 has not only embraced (traditional bluegrass) influences, but integrated them into an approach that is sophisticated, polished and tight, but also refreshingly creative and original.”  

Andy Hall, Sound of the Slide Guitar (Sugar Hill Records), www.sugarhillrecords.com

A founding member of The Infamous Stringdusters, Hall won three IBMA awards with the group in 2007 for their Sugar Hill debut, Fork in the Road. His solo album may be downloaded and purchased digitally from the label beginning this month, but hard copies will be available exclusively from Andy. Hall says this is “a record I’ve been looking forward to making for some time…. Much of it was recorded totally live, and I hope the playfulness and joy I get from playing slide comes across.”  Included: seven originals, “Deep Elem Blues,” a cut from Mark Simos and Norman Blake’s “Green Light on the Southern/ Bony Crossing the Alps.”    

Tom T. Hall, Tom T. Hall Sings Miss Dixie & Tom T. (Blue Circle Records, www.bluecirclerecords.com)

In liner notes Miss Dixie says this album (which originated as a Christmas promise to her last year) gives “Tom T.’s fans an opportunity to share a few of the songs we have written together since he came off the road. It’s a salute to our beloved bluegrass music and its greats….  (The album) is bursting with storytelling magic, performances tastefully touched by fellow legends Earl Scruggs and Jimmy Martin, and sprinkled with stardust by Becky Isaacs, Sonya Isaacs, Josh Williams and Don Rigsby.”  To her husband, Dixie says: “Claim retirement all you will, but the music won’t leave you alone. And neither will I!”   

The Marksmen, God’s Masterpiece (Rural Rhythm Records, www.ruralrhythm.com)

Released on the bluegrass gospel quartet’s anniversary, God’s Masterpiece (subtitled: “Everyday Worship – Songs & Scriptures”) is a concept album focused on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The two-disc set of music and narrated scripture also includes a DVD of the Marksmen performing songs from the album and a 12-page booklet with scripture quotations.  Barry Abernathy and Jim VanCleve from Mountain Heart guest.

Mideando String Quartet, Tutte Le Direzioni (Velut Luna, www.medeano.it)

Seven of eleven cuts are originals on the newest album from Italy’s Mideando String Quartet, named #1 European Bluegrass Band at EWOB in 2006. Eclectic musical influences from Europe and the U.S. are combined in material featuring both Italian and English lyrics. Percussionist Riccardo Targhetta sings lead, Fabiano Guidi Colombi plays guitar and African djembe, Mirko Zanarin plays electric bass, Alessandro Chiarelli plays fiddle and Stefano Santangelo plays mandolin octave mandolin, mandocello and harmonica.

Midnight Flight, Midnight Flight (Midnight Flight Records, www.midnightflight.com)

The latest from Missouri-based bluegrass band, Midnight Flight features the current line-up of Jimmie Allison on guitar, Roger Matthews on banjo, Kevin Shults on mandolin, Mark Vacarro on fiddle and Bill Cross on bass. Material comes from Dallas Frazier, Gary Ferguson, Earnie Bishop, A.P. Carter and more. Included: “Fourteen Carat Mind,” “Last Day at Gettysburg,” “Emptiness Inside,” “You Are My Flower” and more.

Monroe Crossing & VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass (Clarion, www.vocalessence.org)

VocalEssence is the 32-voice, Minnesota-based professional choir heard often on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion radio show on Public Radio International. They join forces with Minnesota-based bluegrass band, Monroe’s Crossing to present a 12-part bluegrass mass composed by Carol Barnett with librettist Marisha Chamberlaine. Philip Brunelle conducted at the Jan. 19-20, 2007 premiere. In liner notes he calls the mass “the perfect entry point for choral music lovers to the sound of bluegrass—and for bluegrass fans to the beauty of choral singing.”  

Red Wine, Winter’s Come and Gone (www.redwinemusic.net)

In liner notes Tim O’Brien, who also contributes fiddle to this project, says, “The members of Red Wine are bluegrass’ Italian ambassadors. Thanks to these four fine string players, the music of Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs thrives in their Mediterranean hometown of Genoa. I first met the band in the early 1980s, and they’ve stayed on a hard-driving course ever since.  Red Wine’s enthusiasm for the music, the instruments and the history of bluegrass is contagious.”

Jason Ring, Patchwork (Old Glove Press, www.jasonringlive.com)

Born in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Jason Ring developed an appreciation of bluegrass, folk, Delta blues and all styles in between—creating the musical “patchwork” of influences heard on this CD. In the annual Virginia Bluegrass Music State Championships, Jason won five awards during the past two years in the Dobro, banjo and guitar categories. Known as a “one man country-bluegrass-blues band,” Jason plays most stringed instruments and has been known to throw in scat singing and the “mouth trumpet” flugel.   

Paul Ryan, The Road Less Traveled (Sunray Media, www.ryantunes.com)

All the music on this album was composed, arranged and performed by Paul Ryan.  Paul plays banjo, guitar, 12-string guitar, a 6-string baritone guitar, mandolin, Dobro, the “dojo” and upright bass.  Included: “The Matter of a Heart,” “Emily,” “My Northern Home,” “I Don’t Brake for Squirrels,” “Winner’s Ring,” “Dotcom Diva” and more.

Spatial Effects, Slightly Bent Bluegrass, Recorded Live at Pentz Street Station (Spatial Effects, http://www.geocities.com/countrarywise/spatialeffects.html)

In liner notes the band says, “One Friday evening during the heat wave of 2007 the coffee was hot and so were we, as we recorded our performance in front of a live audience at Pentz Street Station, a coffee house located in the heart of historic Dalton, Ga.”  Earl Brackin, Betsy Blankenship, Tom Brown and David Crawford make up Spatial Effects. Mostly originals are featured: “Middle Aged Fatty in a Little Speedo,” “Snickerdoodle,” “I Love a Lady in a Hairnet,” “She’s My Cousin—She’s My Wife,” “Mystery of Your Smile,” the “Sassy Goat Jingle” and more.

Larry Stephenson, Thankful (Pinecastle Records, www.pinecastle.com)

In liner notes for his new bluegrass gospel project Larry says, “We all have so many things to be thankful for: our health, our families, this great country we live in and in my case, being able to do what I love and make a living at.  I know at times it may not seem like it, but I am thankful.”  In addition to Stephenson’s trademark tenor-range lead vocals and mandolin, Dustin Benson, Sonya Isaacs, Missy Raines, Shad Cobb, Warren Goad, Aaron McDaris and Ben Surratt are featured.

John Tomlin, I Forgot to Remember (John Tomlin, www.johntomlin.net)

“When Vassar Clements first asked John Tomlin to pick some tunes with him, John, seized by a momentary lack of self-confidence, doubted whether he’d be able to ‘hang’ with the master,” notes Dave Higgs in liner notes, “Vassar quickly allayed the mandolinist’s fears, telling him, ‘You’ve got a good chop, you sing high and you play tasty.  That’s all you gotta do.’  Indeed, John does just that on I Forgot to Remember, and more.”  Also in the line-up: Curly Seckler, Aaron Till, Josh McMurray, Ferrell Stowe and more.

Various Artists, Four Finger Music: The Bluegrass Tribute to the Music Made Famous by The Simpsons (CMH Records, www.cmhrecords.com)

CMH put this musical tribute together as a way of saying thanks for over two decades of “the best and brightest show on television,” liner notes say—a bluegrass spin on the soundtrack from the popular cartoon, The Simpsons.  “Hit and Run Bluegrass mix razor-sharp humor and blistering pickin’ to create a one-of-a-kind album that has to be heard to believed.”  Featured: Rebecca & John Frazier, Travis Book, Scotty Marlboro.

Robin & Linda Williams, Radio Songs (Red House Records, www.redhouserecords.com)

Culled from their on-air appearance over the past 20 years, this new CD features 19 songs handpicked by Robin and Linda that showcase their signature blend of bluegrass, gospel, folk and old-time country. The set list includes originals alongside covers from The Carter family, Jimmie Rodgers, Charlie Poole and Lefty Frizzell. Also included: a comedic radio advertisement narrated by Keiller for Marvin & Mavis Smiley – Down Home Diva, a medley from the Williams’ alter egos that must be heard to believed.