JOSH WILLIAMS, “Down Home,” Pinecastle. 12 tracks.

Back in 1993, Pete “Dr. Banjo” Wernick put together a band he called the Bluegrass Youth All-Stars to perform at the International Bluegrass Music Association awards show at the  RiverPark Center in Owensboro, Ky.

The band — which would make a great supergroup today — consisted of Michael Cleveland on fiddle, Josh Williams on banjo,  Chris Thile on mandolin, Cody Kilby on guitar and Brady Stogdill on bass.

Williams went on to work in the Special Consensus and Rhonda Vincent’s band, The Rage.

Now, he’s on his own with his first solo album since “Lonesome Highway,” which made several “best of” lists back in 2004.

Williams moved from banjo to guitar several years back. And the IBMA has named him guitar player of the year for the past two years.

His tenor/baritone vocals rank him among the top male singers in the genre as well. He really shines on lonesome ballads.

“Kodak 1955” finds the singer sorting through a box of family photos. The title cut tells the story of two generations of a family battling hard times on the farm and the new generation struggling for a better life off the farm.

Jimmy Martin’s “The Last Song” and Murray F. Cannon’s “Dream of Me” are songs about the lives of traveling musicians.

Guests include Williams’ old bosses — Greg Cahill and Vincent — Darrin Vincent, Jamie Dailey, Tony Rice, Randy Kohrs , Stuart Duncan, Aaron McDaris, Kenny Ingram, Tina Adair, Mickey Harris, Jason Carter, Greg Blaylock and Carl Jackson.

“Down Home” is a strong sophomore effort by a rising star in bluegrass.

Look for it in stores Feb. 23. If you can’t find it there, try www.joshwilliamsmusic.com.

DAILEY & VINCENT, “Dailey & Vincent Sing The Statler Brothers,” Rounder/Cracker Barrel. 12 tracks

The Statler Brothers hit the road with Johnny Cash in 1964 and racked up 33 Top 10 country singles before their retirement in 2002.

In January 1966, their “Flowers on the Wall,” climbed to No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 100 (pop) charts.

A piece of trivia: At the 1965 Grammy awards, the Statlers took home the “best contemporary (rock and roll) performance by a group, vocal or instrumental” trophy for “Flowers.”

Among the runners up: “Help!” by The Beatles.

Count Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent — the hottest act in bluegrass music as the second decade of the 21st century begins — among the rabid fans who know such trivia.

On previous albums, they’ve recorded the Statlers’ “Years Ago,” “There Is You” and “More Than a Name on a Wall.” And in 2008, Dailey & Vincent sang the Statlers’ “Do You Know You Are My Sunshine” at the quartet’s induction ceremony for the Country Music Hall of Fame.

So, it’s only fitting that the reigning International Bluegrass Music Association entertainers of the year record an entire album of their musical heroes’ songs.

There’s “Flowers on the Wall,” “Class of ’57,” “Hello Mary Lou Goodbye Heart,” “Too Much On My Heart,” “Susan When She Tried,” “I’ll Go To My Grave Lovin’ You,” “Elizabeth,” “Bed of Roses,” “Do You Know You Are My Sunshine,” “My Only Love” and “Thank You World.”

These are bluegrass versions — well, except for the piano and percussion — of country classics, but they sound remarkably like the originals.

It’s a great collection for fans of either group.

The album is available in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations, at crackerbarrel.com and daileyvincent.musiccitynetworks.com.

RANDY KOHRS, “Quicksand,” Rural Rhythm. 13 tracks.

Randy Kohrs’ resophonic guitar has appeared on more than 500 CDs, but he’s a lot more than a sideman.

He’s also a first-class singer-songwriter. He co-wrote five of the songs on this album.

Kohrs’ “I’m Torn” was one of the best albums of 2004. And “Old Photographs” was a strong album in 2007.

“Quicksand” is classified as an acoustic album, rather than bluegrass, because it pushes boundaries.

“Down Around Clarksdale” is a bluesy tribute to bluesman Robert Johnson, who was said to have sold his soul to the devil at a Mississippi crossroads in exchange for magic in his guitar-pickin’ fingers.

Tom T. Hall’s “More About John Henry is a hard-charging song with a gospel edge about the legendary steel-driving man.

The first single, “Devil of the Trail,” is an uptempo tale of pioneers heading west — “along the path to heaven, she passed the gates of hell.”

“Die On the Vine” is about a farmer who turns to whiskey to ease the pain of losing his farm until he remembers his father’s admonition — “don’t let your life die on the vine.”

The title cut warns that chasing money instead of spending time with your family is like stepping into quicksand.

“If You Think It’s Hot Here” is jazzy gospel.

“The Ghost of Jack McCline” is about a ghost that haunts the home of the man who murdered him to steal his land two generations ago.

“Sunday Clothes” finds the singer going to church for the first time in years — to his mother’s funeral.

“Truman’s Vision” tells about the federal government taking the land from an entire community to build a defense plant during the Cold War.

“Quicksand” is a strong album with bluegrass instruments and a cutting-edge feel.

Can’t find it in stores? Try www.RandyKohrs.com.

BILL EMERSON & SWEET DIXIE, “Southern,” Rural Rhythm. 12 tracks.

When Bill Emerson & The Sweet Dixie Band released a self-titled album in the fall of 2007, it had the feel of a one-time collaboration.

Fortunately, it wasn’t.

The band’s name has been shortened, but the music just keeps getting better.

Emerson, one of the most influential banjo players this side of Earl Scruggs, has been performing for 55 years now in a career that began with Uncle Bob & the Blue Ridge Partners in 1955.

Two years later, he joined with the late Charlie Waller and others to create The Country Gentlemen, one of the top acts in bluegrass.

In 1959, Emerson began moving around.
First, the Stoneman Family. Then, Bill Harrell, Red Allen, Jimmy Martin and Cliff Waldron’s New Shades of Grass.

It was with Waldron in 1968 that Emerson’s banjo turned Manfred Mann’s folk-rock song, “Fox on the Run,” into a bluegrass classic.

He returned to the Gentlemen in 1969 for four years and then began a 20-year career in the U.S. Navy, leading the Navy’s bluegrass band Country Current.

Now, with Sweet Dixie, Emerson is headed back to the top again. And “Southern” is an album fans won’t want to miss.

Tom Adams sings lead on most cuts, but Teri Chism sings lead on three and Wayne Lanham on one. They’re all good vocalists.

The song lineup comes from Tompall Glazer, Chris Hillman, Vince Gill, Alton Delmore, Lionel Cartwright, Hazel Dickens, Carl Jackson, Tim Stafford, Marty Stuart, Pete Gobel, Janet Davis and Adams.

Gill’s “Life in The Old Farm Town” is the poignant story of a farmer’s suicide after his crops burn up in a drought and his farm is lost to foreclosure.

“The Black Fox,” a different type of fox on the run, tells the tale of fox hunters who chase the devil in disguise and then flee in terror.

Most of the album consists of uptempo tunes that make even heartbreak seem like fun.

Can’t find it in stores? Try www.RuralRhythm.com.

BLUE HIGHWAY, “Some Day: The Fifteenth Anniversary Collection,” Rounder. 13 tracks.

If you’re a bluegrass fan and you get a gift card for Christmas from a store that sells music, you might want to hang onto it until Jan. 19, when Rounder Records releases a greatest hits collection for Blue Highway.

The band has been on the road since 1994, released eight albums and garnered a truck load of awards.

And Rounder is celebrating the band’s 15th anniversary with an album filled with 10 previously released tracks (including one from one of resophonic guitar player Rob Ickes’ solo albums) and three new tracks.

Band members wrote or co-wrote 11 tracks. The others are a traditional number — “Wondrous Love” — and Mark Knopfler’s “Marbletown,” a song about a graveyard. Both of those songs were nominated for Grammy awards.

Although the band’s career dates back to 1994, this collection dates from 2000, the beginning of Blue Highway’s Rounder years.

Tracks include “Through the Window of a Train,” the 2008 International Bluegrass Music Association song of the year; “The Seventh Angel,” with Alison Krauss; “Seven Sundays in a Row,” with Sonja Isaacs; “Sycamore Hollow,” a Civil War tale of love and revenge; “Wild Urge to Ramble” and “Still Climbing Mountains.”

The three new songs are “Cold and Lowdown Lonesome Blues,” “Bleeding for a Little Peace of Mind” (with Darrell Scott) and “Some Day,” a great a capella gospel tune.

If you haven’t already discovered Blue Highway, this is a good place to start.

If you have, you’ll probably want this album.

Can’t find it in stores? Try www.rounder.com.

Bluegrass music notes
By Keith Lawrence
Owensboro (Ky.) Messenger-Inquirer
(MCT)
Looking for music to buy for the bluegrass fans in your life? Here are my choices for the 10 best bluegrass albums of 2009.
10. DOYLE LAWSON & QUICKSILVER, “Lonely Street,” Rounder. 12 tracks.
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver have been named vocal group of the year by the International Bluegrass Music Association for an unprecedented seven years — because they are that good.
And “Lonely Street” is a very good example of the band at its best.

9. GRASSTOWNE, “The Other Side of Towne,” Pinecastle. 14 tracks.
Grasstowne burst on the bluegrass scene two years ago with “The Road Headin’ Home,” a strong debut album.
And “The Other Side of Towne” is a worthy successor to that album. One of the best you’ll hear this year.

8. ALECIA NUGENT, “Hillbilly Goddess,” Rounder. 11 tracks.
If “Hillbilly Goddess” had been made 40 years ago, it would have been a major country album. And Alecia Nugent would be a contender for the Country Music Association’s female vocalist of the year award.
But what they’d called country music 40 years ago is mostly found in bluegrass today.
It’s on the ballads that Nugent really shines. She can wring the lonesome out of any lyrics with a voice that was made for hurtin’ songs.

7. RUSSELL MOORE & IIIrd TYME OUT, “Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out,” Rural Rhythm. 12 tracks.
The past 18 years have seen the band pick up 50 industry awards, including seven consecutive trophies for International Bluegrass Music Association vocal group of the year.
This album should help the group pick up even more awards.

6. DAVID DAVIS & THE WARRIOR RIVER BOYS, “Two Dimes & A Nickel,” Rebel Records. 12 tracks
“Two Dimes & A Nickel” just might be the darkest bluegrass album of 2009.
It’s also one of the best.
There’s not much happiness in these dozen songs, but there’s some great picking and singing.
And Owen Saunders plays the lonesomest fiddle this side of a graveyard.

5. ERNIE THACKER, “The Hangman,” Pinecastle. 12 tracks.
 “The Hangman” is filled with powerfully told story songs: “This Drinkin’ Will Kill Me,” where a man faces the choices of drinking himself to death or dying of loneliness; “Friday Once Again,” where a divorced man waits for Friday to see his daughter; “The Ballad of Charlie Dill,” where a man shoots his friend over a woman; and a strong bluegrass version of “Sunday Morning Coming Down.”
But the album’s highlight is “Keith How Many,” a tribute to the late Keith Whitely, who died of alcohol poisoning 20 years ago. “How many young singers will fall, livin’ the song,” Thacker asks.

4. RHONDA VINCENT, “Destination Life,” 12 tracks. Rounder.
Since her return to bluegrass from the bright lights of country music nearly a decade ago, Rhonda Vincent has become the undisputed queen of the genre.
“Destination Life” continues her string of strong albums.

3. SAM BUSH, “Circles Around Me,” Sugar Hill. 14 tracks.
After years of experimenting with everything from jazz to rock to blues to funk and a whole lot more, Sam Bush has come home to bluegrass.
And “Circles Around Me” is easily the best album he’s produced in years — at least as far as bluegrass fans are concerned. And it’s easily one of the best bluegrass albums of the year.
A highlight: “The Ballad of Stringbean and Estelle” is a ballad about the 1973 murders of former Bill Monroe banjo player and Grand Ole Opry star David “Stringbean” Akeman and his wife Estelle.

2. DRY BRANCH FIRE SQUAD, “Echoes of the Mountains,” Rounder. 14 tracks.
Look in the dictionary under “mountain soul,” and you should find a picture of Ron Thomason, the band’s leader. Nobody can wring pathos out of a lyric like Thomason.
The music, and the emotions it evokes, are both raw. You could argue whether this is truly bluegrass. It is a mixture of bluegrass, country, western, gospel, folk and maybe a few more genres. But what it is is great music.

1. DAILEY & VINCENT, “Brothers From Different Mothers,” Rounder. 12 tracks.
“Brothers From Different Mothers” should be on every “Ten Best” list this year.
This is some of the best harmony singing — and some of the best Southern soul — you’ll hear this year.
Period.

JOE DIFFIE, “The Ultimate Collection,” Rounder. 20 tracks.
The bluegrass world has been hearing for months now that Joe Diffie, a country music headliner in the 1990s, is returning to his roots in bluegrass and cutting a new album for Rounder Records.

But this isn’t it.

This is essentially a greatest hits album with 20 of his top country songs re-recorded for a new label.

If you’re a Joe Diffie fan, it’s probably a collection you’ll want.

If you’re a bluegrass fan, you’ll have to wait a few more months.

Songs include “Home,” “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets),” “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die),” “John Deere Green” and 16 more hits.

Thirty years ago, when he was in college, Diffie and his band, Special Edition, cut three bluegrass albums and toured extensively at festivals in Oklahoma and Texas.

“With a deep respect for the pioneers of bluegrass and for the artists that continue to carry the torch today, Joe is excited to begin a new era in his career,” his Web site says.

“He’s found the perfect home for his upcoming bluegrass projects at Rounder Records, arguably the most well-respected bluegrass label in the business,” it adds.

So, hopefully soon, Diffie will make his bluegrass debut.

But if you were hoping this album would feature bluegrass versions of his country hits, you’re out of luck.

Can’t find it in stores? Try www.rounder.com.

THE DIXIE BEE-LINERS, “Susanville,” Pinecastle. 19 tracks.

Concept albums are rare in bluegrass. So the Dixie Bee-Liners’ “Susanville” is definitely worth checking out.

 The band says the album “peers into the cars and trucks in America’s cities and towns, bringing to life 19 breathtaking musical moments along America’s interstates and byways.”

Well, actually, there are only 15 songs on the album including two instrumentals of 36 and 28 seconds respectively. There’s also a yawn, an announcement that the trip is starting, a warning to turn back and an announcement that the trip is over.

 “It’s a soundtrack to a movie that plays in your mind,” mandolinist Buddy Woodward says on the band’s Web site. “Each song is a vignette about a different person in a different car or truck in a different highway in America, and they’re all headed either to or from Susanville.”

Susanville is a northern California city of 13,000 or so.

The Bee-Liners, a band born in New York City and now based in Virginia, is an eclectic group that writes its own material and isn’t adverse to having fun with bluegrass.

Instruments — in addition to mandolin, guitar, fiddle, banjo and bass — include toy piano, piccolo frog, bouzouki, cello, pedal steel, drums, mellotron, harpsichord, Hammond organ and piano.

At times, the album has the feel of ’60s psychedelic rock fused with bluegrass. It’s an interesting concept.

The first track, “Heavy,” finds a couple arguing. “Restless” is about a woman “trying to outrun this demon in my head.” “Road Hog” is about a truck on her bumper.

 Other songs include “Truck Stop Baby,” “Eighteen Wheels,” Trixie’s Diesel Stop Cafe,” “Lead Foot” and “Brake Lights.”

The songs work better as part of the whole concept than they do as individual material. But the title cut is a beautiful ballad that can stand on its own anywhere.

Brandi Hart and Buddy Woodward are the vocalists and writers. Bandmates include Rachel Renee Johnson, Jonathan Maness, Jeremy Darrow and Sam Morrow.

 Hart says “Susanville” is the “first of several bluegrass concept records we’ve been planning.” That’s something to look forward to.

Can’t find it in stores? Try www.dixiebeeliners.com.

SAM BUSH, “Circles Around Me,” Sugar Hill. 14 tracks.

After years of experimenting with everything from jazz to rock to blues to funk and a whole lot more, Sam Bush has come home to bluegrass.

And “Circles Around Me” is easily the best album he’s produced in years — at least as far as bluegrass fans are concerned. And it’s also easily one of the best bluegrass albums of the year.

At 57, Bush’s voice seems better than ever.

There are a lot of old songs on here.

Bush updated “Souvenir Bottles” and “Whisper My Name” — songs from his days with New Grass Revival.

He’s also reunited with Courtney Johnson, a bandmate from New Grass Revival who died in 1996, on “Apple Blossom.” The tune was recorded in 1976, but was never released. The tape was restored and new parts were added for this album.

Del McCoury duets with Bush on a couple of Bill Monroe songs — “Roll On  Buddy, Roll On” and “Midnight On The Stormy Deep.”

Also on the album are a couple of songs Bush enjoyed as a fan 40 years or more ago — “Diamond Joe” and “You Left Me Alone.”

But some of the best songs on the album are those that Bush wrote or co-wrote.

The title cut is a beautiful song about surviving life.

And “The Ballad of Stringbean and Estelle” is a ballad about the 1973 murders of former Bill Monroe banjo player and Grand Ole Opry star David “Stringbean” Akeman and his wife Estelle.
The killers found little to steal in the couple’s cabin, but 23 years later, $20,000 was discovered behind a brick in the chimney — too rotted to be of any value. One killer died in prison, the other is still incarcerated.

There’s not a bad cut on the entire album.

This is Sam Bush at his best.

Can’t find it in stores? Try www.sugarhillrecords.com.

CORINNE WEST, “The Promise,” Make Records. Nine tracks.

Corinne West is best described as an Americana artist. Her music is a blend of folk, rock, country and bluegrass.

She’s been on the road since she was 15, absorbing life in America. And it shows in her writing. She wrote eight of the nine tracks on the album.

Some of West’s previous albums contained songs that had strong bluegrass influences. But “The Promise” is mostly progressive folk.

Bluegrass fans will have to wait for the next album.

Can’t find it in stores? Try www.corinnewest.com.

SAM BUSH, “Circles Around Me,” Sugar Hill. 14 tracks.

After years of experimenting with everything from jazz to rock to blues to funk and a whole lot more, Sam Bush has come home to bluegrass.

And “Circles Around Me” is easily the best album he’s produced in years — at least as far as bluegrass fans are concerned. And it’s also easily one of the best bluegrass albums of the year.

At 57, Bush’s voice seems better than ever.

There are a lot of old songs on here.

Bush updated “Souvenir Bottles” and “Whisper My Name” — songs from his days with New Grass Revival.

He’s also reunited with Courtney Johnson, a bandmate from New Grass Revival who died in 1996, on “Apple Blossom.” The tune was recorded in 1976, but was never released. The tape was restored and new parts were added for this album.

Del McCoury duets with Bush on a couple of Bill Monroe songs — “Roll On  Buddy, Roll On” and “Midnight On The Stormy Deep.”

Also on the album are a couple of songs Bush enjoyed as a fan 40 years or more ago — “Diamond Joe” and “You Left Me Alone.”

But some of the best songs on the album are those that Bush wrote or co-wrote.

The title cut is a beautiful song about surviving life.

And “The Ballad of Stringbean and Estelle” is a ballad about the 1973 murders of former Bill Monroe banjo player and Grand Ole Opry star David “Stringbean” Akeman and his wife Estelle.
The killers found little to steal in the couple’s cabin, but 23 years later, $20,000 was discovered behind a brick in the chimney — too rotted to be of any value. One killer died in prison, the other is still incarcerated.

There’s not a bad cut on the entire album.

This is Sam Bush at his best.

Can’t find it in stores? Try www.sugarhillrecords.com.

CORINNE WEST, “The Promise,” Make Records. Nine tracks.

Corinne West is best described as an Americana artist. Her music is a blend of folk, rock, country and bluegrass.

She’s been on the road since she was 15, absorbing life in America. And it shows in her writing. She wrote eight of the nine tracks on the album.

Some of West’s previous albums contained songs that had strong bluegrass influences. But “The Promise” is mostly progressive folk.

Bluegrass fans will have to wait for the next album.

Can’t find it in stores? Try www.corinnewest.com.