DOYLE LAWSON AND QUICKSILVER, ROADS WELL TRAVELED

DOYLE LAWSON AND QUICKSILVER
ROADS WELL TRAVELED

Mountain Home Music
MH14612

Doyle Lawson, as we all know, has had a long career in bluegrass music. When he was inducted into the IBMA Hall Of Fame in 2012, he said, “I’ve got a lot of fuel left in my tank with a lot of plans in the works, and I’m as excited about the music as I’ve ever been.” And, he was right, as Lawson continues to record and release many, if not more, albums than musicians half his age.

The latest example is Road Well Traveled, released on Mountain Home Music. Produced by Lawson, this collection features his latest hard-rehearsed band featuring Joe Dean, Corey Hensley, Jason Barie, Mike Rogers, and Josh Swift. The album starts off with the rollicking “Dixie Road,” which showcases the patented Quicksilver harmony vocal treatment and puts Swift’s resonator guitar to full use. But this is not a barn-burner of an album as there are a lot of sad, heartfelt yet beautiful songs on here, including “How Do You Say Goodbye To Sixty Years?,” a tale about a man burying his wife after six decades of marriage. That’s followed by the tearjerker country song “One Small Miracle,” penned by Whisperin’ Bill Anderson and Steve Wariner.

The pace kicks back up with “It’s Hard To Be Forgotten,” written by the members of Quicksilver, as well as with a song about an old musician in “Dobro Joe.” Other highlights include a wonderful song written by Carl Jackson and Jonathan Burchett called “When Love Is All You Want” and also Harley Allen’s “The King.” The album finishes with the upbeat, old homeplace jam called “Fiddlin’ Will,” which Jim and Jesse McReynolds wrote about their true-life Uncle Will who simply played music for friends and family only. (Crossroads Music, P.O. Box 829, Arden, NC 28704, www.crossroadsmusic.com.)DH