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.

RALPH STANLEY & THE CLINCH MOUNTAIN BOYS, “Can’t You Hear the Mountains Calling,” 12 tracks.

Ralph Stanley is an American legend now. At age 82, he’s been performing   bluegrass and mountain soul for 63 years and, if his career ended today, he would have left quite a legacy.
Stanley is still making music today, but Rounder Records has resurrected a little-known album from 1986 to give fans another chance to hear Stanley in his prime.

Charlie Sizemore, one of the better singers in bluegrass today, was the band’s 25-year-old lead singer. Junior Blankenship was on lead guitar; Curly Ray Cline, fiddle; and Jack Cooke, bass.

And Stanley, of course, was playing banjo.

The album was originally a cassette called “16 Years” on River Tracks Records. It was re-released as a CD on Cooper Creek Records in 1995. And now, 14 years later, it’s out again with a wider distribution.

A lot of bluegrass albums today are mixture of styles — bluegrass, country, gospel, rockabilly, jazz, Cajun and other influences.
But people searching for pure, unadulterated bluegrass need look no further than “Can’t You Hear the Mountains Calling.”

There’s a lot of uptempo heartache here — the broken lives of “When You Go Out Walking After Midnight,” the loss of a spouse after “16 Years” of marriage, watching the one you love with another man on “”With Whiskey and Wine.”

There’s a lot of joy too — the rousing “Cotton-Eyed Joe,” the hard-driving “Dickenson County Breakdown.”

This is Stanley and his band at or very near their prime. Fans will definitely want to check it out.

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

STEEP CANYON RANGERS, “Deep in the Shade,” Rebel. 12 tracks.

These days, the North Carolina-based Steep Canyon Rangers is better known as Steve Martin’s backing band. Last month, the group launched a 15-city tour with Martin that included an appearance on ABC’s “The View.”

But the Rangers are far more than Martin’s backing band.

The 10-year-old group that formed after a stairwell jam session at the University of North Carolina was named emerging artist of the year by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2006 and its last album — “Lovin’ Pretty Women” — was nominated for album of the year in 2008.

You don’t have to wonder if the music is really bluegrass when the Rangers take the stage.

The sound is definitely bluegrass, but don’t expect to recognize any of the songs. This is not a cover band, so don’t wait for the old standards.

Members Graham Sharp, Charles R. Humprhey III and Nicky Sanders wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 12 songs.

There’s a beautiful a capella version of Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter’s “Sylvie” and an uptempo version of Merle Haggard’s “I Must Be Somebody Else You’ve Known.” All the rest are band originals.

As the album’s publicity material says, “The age-old theme of heartbreak has never sounded as upbeat as when accompanied by driving banjo, sawing fiddle and ringing mandolin.”

“Have Mercy” sees a couple ending an affair to keep from hurting others. “I Thought That She Loved Me” is the classic tale of a city girl who did a country boy wrong. “Turn Up The Bottle” finds a man ready for a change after a hard life. And “There Ain’t No Easy Street” is an uptempo song about struggling to survive on the hard side of town in today’s economy.

Another strong album by a good band.

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

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 that sent a single — “Dixie Flyer” — to the top of Bluegrass Unlimited’s charts for three consecutive months.

The band was an instant super-group with Phil Leadbetter, one of the top resonator guitarists in bluegrass, who had spent years with J.D. Crowe’s New South and then Wildfire; Steve Gulley, who first made his mark with Doyle Lawson’s Quicksilver and then became a founding member of Mountain Heart; and Alan Bibey, who built his reputation with IIIrd Tyme Out and Blueridge.

But it’s been two years since the debut album. How does the band sound now?

About the same actually. When you start with veteran musicians at the top of their game, there’s not a lot of room for growth.

Gulley and Bibey are still honing their songwriting skills and each contributed three songs they wrote or co-wrote to the project.

Gulley’s songs are “Lifting Up The Cross,” a gospel number; “Somebody’s Gonna Let You Down,” an uptempo song about people not living up to expectations; and “Sorrow Ain’t Far Behind,” a song that gives all the instruments a good workout.

Bibey contributed “Pay Your Dues,” a song about the traveling life; “Tobaccoville Road,” an instrumental; and “The Day Hell Freezes Over,” a song with a sing-along chorus and some great harmony.

Gulley, who does George Jones almost as well as George Jones does, sings Jones’ classic “The Door” from 1974.

Melba Montgomery’s “Big, Big Heartaches,” an uptempo number, is the first single from the album. It was already at No. 20 on the September Bluegrass Unlimited charts.

Other cuts worth checking: “Laura Lie,” a cheatin’ song about the “daughter of the devil,” and “Salvation Of The Lord,” an a capella gospel quartet number that features Terry Baucom singing bass.

It’s a strong album.

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

JEFF AND VIDA, “Selma Chalk,” Rosebank Records. 13 tracks.

Take a California girl who grew up in Germany and a New Jersey boy, put them together in New Orleans to form a band and what do you get?

I’m not really sure. But it’s good.

Jeff Burke and Vida Wakeman began performing their blend of bluegrass, alternative country, blues, rock, rockabilly, Cajun, folk and a few other things in New Orleans clubs in 1998.

They’ve toured nationally and internationally for the past 11 years and moved their base of operations to Nashville. And they’re ready for some wider recognition.

“Selma Chalk,” the latest album, was written entirely by Wakeman with assistance from Burke on four tracks and Pat Flory on one.

The title comes from a term for “an impurity found in the most fertile ground of the South,” the album says.

Wakeman’s lyrics are original, in some ways like a Southern poet. There’s a singer-songwriter feel to the album.

In “Alabama Sky,” she sings, “in that Alabama sky/there’s a falling star for each goodbye/and I just saw mine coming down/last night leaving town.”

In “Letter To My Love,” a woman has taken the blame for a murder committed by her lover. As her life nears its end, she sings, “It wasn’t the money that made me stay/It was not the world that led me astray/It was just to be near you near you everyday.”

The police tell her that they had a phone call, telling them where to find her and she laments, “Baby, was it you?”

 And in “Sharp As A Knife,” Wakeman sings, “my love for you is as sharp as a knife/cut me and bleed me and make me your wife/and if you don’t want me don’t throw me away/love without you is like hurt with out pain.”

Wakeman’s voice is unique. She doesn’t really sound like a bluegrass singer.

But “Little Sara” is definitely hard-charging bluegrass. “Sharp As A Knife” has bluegrass instrumentation. “Fire in the Water” and “Crush” also have a strong bluegrass presence.

While it’s not strictly a bluegrass album, “Selma Chalk” is definitely worth checking out.

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

GOLD HEART, “My Sisters and Me,” Rural Rhythm. 12 tracks.

Chances are, you haven’t heard of Gold Heart yet. But, rest assured, you will.

The Gold sisters from Hamilton, Va., are one of the hottest new acts in bluegrass — as well as one of the youngest.

Analise, the oldest at 19, switched from bagpipes to mandolin when the sisters decided to form a bluegrass band.

Jocelyn, 16, is the songwriter and guitar player. She wrote or co-wrote nine of the 12 songs on this album.

Shelby, who’s 13, is a fiddle prodigy. They take turns singing lead and their harmony is fantastic.

“Heavenly Home,” a gospel song written by Jocelyn Gold, is performed as an a capella trio. If angels sing bluegrass, this is what it sounds like.

The songwriting is mature and the musicianship is on a par with pickers twice their age.

A lot of bluegrass albums these days leave you wondering, “Is that really bluegrass?” There are no doubts here. “My Sisters and Me” is bluegrass, pure but not so simple.

It’s hard to pick a favorite here. It’s a solid album by a band that should just get better with time.

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

Adam Steffey. “One More For The Road.” Sugar Hill Records. 12 tracks.

So why has it taken Adam Steffey 22 years in bluegrass to discover that he’s a good vocalist?

“I try to be realistic about my voice,” Steffey says in publicity material for what’s only his second solo album in the past eight years, “and I’m not the ballad singer at all.”

Maybe not, but he sounds fine on everything else. And fans can check it out when the album hits stores on Sept. 22.

Steffey’s baritone vocals on the title cut should qualify the song for a lot of airplay on country radio — if DJs will just overlook the banjo and Dobro, which bluegrass fans love.

Steffey began his career with the Lonesome River Band in 1987, left to help form Dusty Miller, then spent nearly eight years with Alison Krauss & Union Station, joined The Isaacs, then moved on to Mountain Heart for more than six years and currently is mandolin player for the Dan Tyminski Band.

He’s also won mandolin player of the year honors from the International Bluegrass Music Association five times.

Now, he’s displaying his strong vocal chops on “One More For The Road,” “Don’t Lie To Me,” “A Broken Heart Keeps Beatin’,” “Trusting In Jesus” and “What Gives You The Right.”

Of course, like most musicians who are primarily instrumentalists, Steffey brings in some friends to help with the vocal work.

And he has some good friends.

Tyminski sings lead on “Let Me Fall.” Ronnie Bowman does a great cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Please Don’t Tell Me How The Story Ends” and Krauss contributes an outstanding version of “Warm Kentucky Sunshine,” an old Bluegrass Cardinals song.

Steffey assembled an all-star band for the album — Clay Hess, Barry Bales, Ron Block, Stuart Duncan, Ron Stewart, Randy Kohrs, Tyminski, Bowman, Tina  Steffey and Bryan Sutton.

He also wrote three of the songs — “Deep Rough,” “What Gives You The Right” and “Barnyard Playboy.”

Here’s hoping the next solo album comes out a little faster than this one did.

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