Roads Well Traveled from Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver

Roads Well Traveled - Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver’s latest album, Roads Well Traveledwas released today. This most recent inductee into the Bluegrass Hall of Honor shows no signs of slowing down. His latest release is filled with the same originality we have come to expect from Doyle over his fifty years in bluegrass music. Building off the fresh sound exhibited on recent albums Drive Time and Sing Me A Song About JesusRoads Well Traveled is a treat for fans old and new.

The album’s opener, Dixie Road, is an old Lee Greenwood hit. DLQ tore down the house with this one at the IBMA Awards show last fall. Jazzed up by Josh Swift’s dobro playing, listeners will find themselves bopping their heads in no time.

How Do You Say Goodbye To Sixty Years is the tear-jerking story of a man who is trying to cope after his wife’s passing.

How do you say goodbye
To the only gal that you’ve ever loved?
How do you sleep at night
When you’re the only one left to pull those covers up?
And when I wake up in the morning
How will I face the day knowing that she won’t be here?
You know it’s just a part of life,
But, son, how do you say goodbye to sixty years?

In an age of artists perpetually stuck in high school, a song of this maturity stands out from the crowd. Taylor Swift should listen to this to learn what true heartbreak is.

It’s Hard To Be Forgotten and Fiddlin’ Will are two of the album’s grassiest numbers. It’s Hard To Be Forgotten sounds like a classic Quicksilver song. Corey Hensley’s sky-high vocals matched with the driving sound of Joe Dean’s banjo should send his one flying up bluegrass charts in no time.

With Fiddlin’ Will, DLQ pays homage to bluegrass pioneers, Jim & Jesse McReynolds. One of the most underrated fiddle players on the bluegrass circuit today, Jason Barie, displays his masterful fiddle playing on this number. Once this song gets going, your foot instinctively starts tapping.

But Doyle’s not just one of the best band leaders in bluegrass history; his mandolin playing is second to none. I still think it’s a bluegrass sin that Doyle has never won IBMA’s Mandolin Player Of The Year award. He proves my point on his original tune, By The Waters Of The Clinch. Everyone takes a turn on this catchy instrumental, but it is Lawson who steals the show.

Without a doubt, I’m That Country is my favorite song on Roads Well Traveled. If you take everything country you can think of, put them in a sack and shake ’em up, you’ll have I’m That Country. Home grown tomatoes, a team of mules, Martha White flour, and Crowe on banjo: this song has got it all! Mike Rogers’ powerful lead vocals leave no room for doubt: Quicksilver is that country!

Roads Well Traveled should find a ready audience with any bluegrass fan. Quicksilver has only had one member change in the past couple years, and this current edition is well-polished in their vocal and instrumental performance. Once again, Doyle Lawson delivers.

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About the Author

Daniel Mullins

Daniel Mullins is an IBMA award-winning journalist and broadcaster from southwestern Ohio, with an American Studies degree from Cedarville University. He hosts the Walls of Time: Bluegrass Podcast and his daily radio program, The Daniel Mullins Midday Music Spectacular, on the Real Roots Radio network. He also serves as the station’s music director, programming country, bluegrass, and Americana music.