JASON BARIE

JASON BARIE
PIECES

Billy Blue Records
BBR-1010

Jason Barie, fiddle player for Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers for the past five years, is a bluegrass veteran at a young age. The six-time Florida State Fiddle Champion also played six years with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver as well as stints with Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top X-press, Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys, Larry Stephenson, Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road, and Sand Mountain.

On his first solo project Pieces, Barie has assembled singers and players from his bluegrass present and past to render songs of his authorship and choosing. The band consists of top bluegrass players including Becky Buller, Stephen Burwell, and Corrina Rose Logston for twin fiddles; banjoists Kristin Scott Benson and Jason Davis; mandolinists Wayne Benson, Doyle Lawson, Kevin McKinnon and Mike Terry; resonator guitarist Josh Swift; and bassist Randy Barnes.

Vocals feature a duet of Paul Williams and Del McCoury on the Hank Williams favorite “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and Williams singing lead on “Beyond The Sunset For Me.” Brandon Rickman sings a fine lead on “Blue Eyed Darlin.” As this is a fiddle player’s solo album, Barie demonstrates his capabilities on the various types of fiddle tunes, all of which he wrote. “Waiting On Isaac” is a breakdown, and “Two Left Shoes” and “Oak Grove Shuffle” are similar uptempo fiddle numbers. “Sarah Jo” and “Sassafras” sound like tunes Kenny Baker could have written in the mid-tempo bluegrass groove. “The Rapido Kid” is a fiddle and banjo duet. “Adalynn’s Lullaby” and a live cut of “Ashokan Farewell” show Barie’s skill with slow and 3/4-time fiddle showpieces. An all-around solid and enjoyable album. (Billy Blue Records, 124 Shivel Dr., Hendersonville, TN 37075 www.billybluerecords.com.)TK