553. Ricky Skaggs

March 17, 2024March 18, 2024 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(March 2024) Episode 553 is RICKY SKAGGS. I never listened to Ricky Skaggs (much less any country) back in the day but I did have a sense he was different than his peers who were playing hot country in arenas and Super Bowl halftime shows. True. Throughout his career he’s been a traditionalist, primarily in bluegrass. And I like bluegrass. He was a child phenom who connected early with legends Earl Scruggs and Ralph Stanley. Mandolin is his main instrument but he can pay almost anything, and his voice is the high tenor characteristic of the bluegrass genre. His recordings, particularly for a long stretch in the 1980s-90s, ventured into other styles of country — not all of it is my cup of tea – but never too far from traditional roots.

Favourite album: Ridin’ that Midnight Train

Favourite song: Bluegrass Rules!

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: Start with the bluegrass oriented stuff, including tributes to Bill Monroe and such. The Instrumentals album is a fun listen. I love turbo-speed bluegrass pieces.

445. Sturgill Simpson

October 21, 2022 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(October 2022) Episode 445 is STURGILL SIMPSON. I’ll never be a country music fan but I’m trying to expand my knowledge. In conventional mode, Simpson evokes outlaw country and Merle & Waylon (much better than hot country which I loathe), and nails bluegrass and ballads too. But he also goes iconoclast on a couple albums with electronic sounds and distorted guitars for an alt rock sound.

Favorite album: Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

Favorite song: Fastest Horse in Town

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: if you’re into country you’re probably already into him; if not, give it a try

304. Ralph Stanley and the Stanley Brothers

December 13, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(December 2020) Episode 304 is RALPH STANLEY and the STANLEY BROTHERS. Bill Monroe is the Father of Bluegrass, but the Stanleys are no less essential to the definition and popularization of this distinctively American musical style. It’s hard to imagine a figure more beloved within his musical tradition than Dr. Ralph.

Favorite album: Hard Times

Favorite song: I’m A Man of Constant Sorrow

Favorite instrumental: Hard Times

Best compilation if you want the best of: Old Songs and Ballads (vols 1 and 2)

Compared to expectations: same

279. Bill Monroe

August 29, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(August 2020) Episode 279 is BILL MONROE. The Father of Bluegrass, so much so that the entire genre is named after his band. He was also very stern in enforcing orthodoxy of style and form in the genre he created, a dynamic that persists to this day. It’s interesting to listen to their 1940s singles as they show the transition from standard country to this distinctive sound. My favorite songs are the machine-gun fire banjo-led jams.

Favorite album: Master of Bluegrass

Favorite song: Bluegrass Breakdown

Compared to expectations: same

277. Dolly Parton

August 18, 2020September 5, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(August 2020) Episode 277 is DOLLY PARTON. Dolly is an institution. Beyond her success as an entertainer, businesswoman and philanthropist, my take-away here is her strength as a song-writer. I find her best work comes from the heart, grounded in her East Tennessee roots. Thus I prefer her songs inflected with bluegrass and Appalachian folk, or featuring lyrics from personal experience. Her voice can carry any song, although I admit to cringing when she’s doing pompadoured kitch with Porter Wagoner, pop crossovers, or flag-wrapped patriotic fare.

Favorite album: Little Sparrow

Favorite song: Early Morning Breeze

Favorite periods: early 70s solo, bluegrass trilogy 99-02

Least favorite period: late 70s-80s pop phase

Worst album: For God and Country (a blast of Iraq War jingoism)

Oddest cover: Stairway to Heaven (yes, that one)

Compared to expectations: same

262. Alison Krauss

May 12, 2020July 3, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ 2 Comments

(May 2020) Episode 262 is ALISON KRAUSS. When I subject myself to country music, it usually goes down best as bluegrass. And so I find a lot to like about Alison Krauss, who (with Union Station) kind of propelled a bluegrass revival. But no matter the style of music, she just has the perfect voice. And her fiddlin’ is pretty good too.

Favorite album: Raising Sand (with Robert Plant)

Favorite solo album: I’ve Got That Old Feeling

Favorite song: Jacob’s Dream

Compared to expectations: same

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256. Emmylou Harris

March 22, 2020April 16, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(March 2020) Episode 256 is EMMYLOU HARRIS. In my effort to expose myself to country music, I turn next to Emmylou Harris, on the perception that she does not confine herself to the country genre that made her famous. So it’s not surprising that I prefer her folk- and bluegrass-influenced songs, for which I find her wonderful voice more suited, and her later-career Americana and country-folk albums. While most of her famous songs were written by others, I like better the albums where she wrote most.