Yonder
There's a timeless, simple beauty to this collaboration between old friends: just Jerry Douglas on Dobro and guitar and Peter Rowan on vocals, mandolin, and guitar.  Every instrumental break and every word resonates in the emotional space suggested by the title, and the whole has more in common with the blues ethos than the bluegrass background from which both players hail.  The album has meditative, melancholy sound, typified by the opening track, "Wayside Tavern," a brilliant piece of evocative, lyrical writing.  The album was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.--Roy Francis Kasten