Lonesome River Band has a new single this week, the first since the release of their popular Hey Day album for Mountain Home Music last year.
This one reaches back 30 years to a song written by Karl Hasten and Steve Hood, which LRB banjo man and bandleader Sammy Shelor says he rediscovered recently online.
“Near Mrs. is a song that Shawn Camp recorded on a country project back around 1994. A good friend of mine, Rod Riley, was playing guitar with Shawn at that time, and he recently posted a video of them performing it on the Crook and Chase show from that era. I felt strongly that Adam would be able to do a great job with the song, and the current configuration of the band is really good at playing stuff out of the bluegrass box. We love traditional country, and feel that the bluegrass genre is the last form of Real Country Music.”
Shawn’s cut in ’94 had a twangy, honky tonk country sound, and Lonesome River Band does a fine job maintaining that vibe in their grassed up version of a song about staying away from the altar and the preacher, while making plenty of friends among the ladies.
Mandolinist Adam Miller sings the lead, with support from Shelor on banjo, Jesse Smathers on guitar, Mike Hartgrove on fiddle, and Kameron Keller on bass.
It’s a dandy. Have a listen…
Near Mrs. from Lonesome River Band will be available on April 28 from popular download and streaming services online. Radio programmers can get the track now via AirPlay Direct.
