The new, self-titled CD from Audie Blaylock and Redline is officially released today (1/27) on Rural Rhythm Records.
It features 12 tracks of the hard-driving bluegrass sound that is Audie’s trademark, played by he and his hot young road band. Jason Johnson is on mandolin, Patrick McAvinue on fiddle, Evan Ward on banjo, Matt Wallace on bass, and Blaylock on guitar and lead vocals.
Like The Traditional Grass and The Johnson Mountain Boys before him, Audie manages to record music that sounds as though he hasn’t heard a lick of bluegrass later than the mid-1960s. Both in the song choice and the presentation, this record could pass as a “long lost master” from an earlier era.
A lot of that, of course, comes from his training under Jimmy Martin, with whom he worked as a young man. Audie includes one Martin/Paul Williams composition (Goodbye), a great Bobby Osborne song (You’ll Never Be The Same), and one from Frank Wakefield (Lonesome Weary Hearts) amidst a number of new songs, all of which sound like they’ve been around for years.
Audie agreed to let us offer a couple of audio samples from the album, and shared a few thoughts about the songs.
Whispering Waters – Listen now: [http://media.libsyn.com/media/thegrasscast/waters.mp3]
“We were in the research and listening process for material for the CD and collected a handful of songs. This particular song was in the group and jumped out at me. It had a great melody, story content, and all the qualities that I like in a song. I particularly liked the high soaring chorus. We ran through the song with the band and after we played it, we knew that was a definite.”
Send Me Your Address From Heaven – Listen now: [http://media.libsyn.com/media/thegrasscast/address_from_heaven.mp3]
“I’ve always been a big Red Allen fan, and this particular song has always been one of my favorites. I have been singing it since I was a teenager at jams, festivals and the like. I am not sure why I hadn’t recorded it before, but I knew I wanted to include it in this project.”
You can hear samples from all 12 tracks on Audie’s web site.
