For the last several years, noted singer and mandolinist Ashby Frank has been making his own musical statements outside of the many bands he’s been part of as a supporting player. Run This Town, Frank’s second release for Mountain Home Music Company, covers a broad array of musical styles from bluegrass, country, and even rock.
To kick things off, we’re graced with a hard hitting rendition of the traditional classic, Blue Night. This track is an excellent exhibit of Ashby’s soulful vocal style and clean, articulate mandolin playing. He is supported here by Seth Taylor on guitar, Matt Menefee on banjo, Jim VanCleve on fiddle, Travis Anderson on bass, and Tony Creasman on drums, who serves as his backing band for the bulk of this project.
The Bug on the other hand comes from the repertoire of Mark Knopfler. With stellar backing vocals from Jaelee Roberts, this performance is one of several brilliant examples of Ashby’s versatility.
Traveler’s Prayer from Keith Sewell and Wendy Waldman, tells a captivating story of adventures on the road. Along with harmony vocals from Jaelee Roberts and Josh Shilling, this track also features excellent fiddle work from Megan Lynch Chowning.
One of the most surprising selections on this release is Valerie, which comes from the repertoire of the late pop singer, Amy Winehouse. Rendered here in a bluegrass/country hybrid fashion, this performance is enhanced by pedal steel guitar from Steve Hinson and the piano accompaniment from Josh Shilling. John Cowan is also featured here providing peerless backing vocals to Franks, Roberts, and Shilling. The title track Run This Town by Frank and Jack McKeon appropriately carries this stylistic flavor as well, considering that the song speaks of one’s difficulties trying to make it in Nashville in a highly competitive and constantly changing industry.
Knee Deep in Bluegrass is a tune that Ashby recorded in memory of the legendary banjoist, Terry Baucom. This recording was named the 2024 Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year by the IBMA, and it’s easy to see why. Not only does everyone bring their A game to this track, but Matt Menefee’s performance effectively captures why so many of us were drawn to Baucom’s hard hitting style of banjo picking.
The closing track, The Pretender, comes from the Foo Fighters, who originally recorded it in 2007. While a song of this nature would normally be seen as an odd choice for an acoustic oriented album, it fits in perfectly here. This is yet another great example of Ashby’s multifaceted creativity.
Run This Town is an excellent listen from start to finish. With material from a wide range of sources, this album shows us all of Ashby Frank’s deep musicality and his ability to render them in a way that makes a statement about who he is as an artist.
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