Doyle Lawson’s latest Rounder release, Lonely Street, hits today (5/5).
In keeping with his current practice of alternating themes every other CD, this project is a primarily secular recording. The material is drawn from some of today’s top songwriters, with a number of classics thrown into the mix. New songs included came from Carl Jackson, Buddy Cannon, Mark Simos and Chris Stuart. Lawson also covers songs from Marty Robbins and Porter Wagoner, in addition to the title song which was a hit in the late 1950s and the 1960s for Andy Williams and Patsy Cline, performed here as a vocal trio throughout.
This album was recorded in the Fall of 2008 with Doyle’s then current band: Darren Beachley (guitar/vocal), Carl White (bass/vocal), Joey Cox (banjo), Josh Swift (resophonic guitar) and Brandon Godman (fiddle), with Lawson on mandolin and vocals.
The CD starts with a tribute to the Father Of Bluegrass, Monroe’s Mandolin, which Doyle said was a special song for him.
“I’m hearing Bill Monroe’s name mentioned less and less these days, and I don’t want to see that happen. He’s the reason I play bluegrass and I wanted to do something to put Bill’s name back out front.
This song was cut by The Bressler Brothers and when I was putting songs together for this CD it seemed like a perfect fit.
Monroe’s Mandolin – Listen now: [http://media.libsyn.com/media/thegrasscast/monroes_mandolin.mp3]
The track starts with a solo mandolin (Evening Shadows, a tune of mine) and we put some nature sounds in the background. Bill loved the outdoors – loved to watch his horses and chickens – and I could just envision someone sitting on their front porch playing the mandolin, like I did as a boy.
The track ends with the first part of Watermelon on The Vine, which was Mr. Monroe’s theme song when he hosted the Opry.”
Another song that Doyle said was special to him is Yesterday’s Songs, written by Lisa Shaffer, Mark Simos and Jon Weisberger.
Yesterday’s Songs – Listen now: [http://media.libsyn.com/media/thegrasscast/yesterdays_songs.mp3]
“This one really hit home for me. I can so clearly recall the voices as I was walking by a church, and hearing them sing the old songs.
Jon Weisberger sent me this song while we were in the studio, and I liked it so well that we started working on it right away.”
Lonely Street is available now wherever bluegrass music is sold, from the Doyle Lawson web site and in iTunes.
