Keep On Keepin’ On
Keep On Keepin’ On is the best album you will listen to in 2025, which came extremely close to never seeing the light of day. C.J. Lewandowski and bluegrass legend Bobby Osborne had started an album just months before Osborne’s passing. The mandolin player from the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys was so distraught at losing his mentor that he not only didn’t want to continue with the project, he considered leaving the music business altogether.
However, a moment alone on the porch of his Smoky Mountain home changed all that. One night, Lewandowski felt Osborne was there with him and mentioned that their time together and recording was a gift that he needed to make use of. Boy, did he come through.
The “& Friends” part of the credit on the album is a reference to Billy Strings, Sam Bush, Vince Gill, Molly Tuttle, Del, Rob, and Ronnie McCoury, Jaelee Roberts, and the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys. It shouldn’t be lost on those who worry about the future of bluegrass that a dozen of the guests on the project are under 40 years old.
It’s difficult to pare down which tracks to mention in this review, as there are just 13 with no filler to be found. “She’s No Angel” is a good place to start because it’s how the McCourys got recruited — Lewandowski ran into them playing it at a jam session at the 2023 IBMA Awards night and joined in. That watershed moment pushed the musician to go on and finish the project. Bobby Osborne Jr. (bass) and Wynn Osborne (banjo) are featured on it as well, as is primo fiddler Aynsley Porchak.
Bush joins on the title track with Lewandowski and Osborne Sr., and Gill follows that by helping out on “Lonesome Feeling.” Tuttle and the Osbornes collaborate on “Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong,” and Rob McCoury and Billy Strings collaborate with the two principals on “Cora is Gone.” It’s hard to imagine sweeter harmonies than those brought by rising star Jaelee Roberts and the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys on “Blue Heartache.”
Osborne and Lewandowski close out the CD powerfully with “Rank Stranger,” “Rocky Top,” and “Too Old to Die Young.”
It’s not hype to say that Keep On Keepin’ On is indeed a gift and a warm way to remember a longtime great in bluegrass. Osborne would likely have appreciated the cast of musicians included, which makes it so appealing to the varied audience that is bluegrass today.
