A hallmark album for a superb band to showcase its contemporary bluegrass . Playing Time - 39:05 -- Don Rigsby doesn't even turn the big 4-0 until February 28 of 2008. Already he has two decades of professional bluegrass experience with such top groups as Longview, Bluegrass Cardinals, J.D. Crowe & the New South, Lonesome River Band and Rock Country. He's also released four highly-acclaimed solo albums and was twice named SPBGMA's male vocalist for the year. When Rock Country disbanded, Don was faced with two choices - work for someone else, or form his own band. He chose the latter and, unlike previous solo albums from Rigsby (on the Sugar Hill label) that enlisted friends and session players, he has recorded "Hillbilly Heartache" with his own group (Midnight Call) that includes himself singing lead and playing mandolin, along with Dale Vanderpool (banjo), Shayne Bartley (guitar), Jesse Wells (fiddle), and Robert Maynard (bass). It was a good move to do it all themselves this time because it's a crackerjack band.     In a few instances, (Make God Laugh, Red Bird, Prisoner on the Highway), their vocal arrangements also call for Rigsby to jump up to tenor on the choruses. "He Loves To Hear You Shout" (written by Dixie and Tom T. Hall) is a very nicely presented vocal quartet for the group with Rigsby, Vanderpool, Bartley and Wells doing the vocalizing.     While best known for his mandolin picking, Don's a versatile multi-instrumentalist, and it's a treat to hear him also provide some snippets of guitar, mandele, and fiddle. Two songs ("These Golden Fields" and "Any Bar in Birmingham") incorporate some of Don's light percussion. The former, about farming, features Don's high-lead singing with two harmonies below, as well as Wells' octave violin for a different mood. Obviously, quite a bit of forethought went into producing these songs in the best possible manner for us. In a few, the banjo is muted, and on the closing number, "I Am The Man, Thomas") Jesse Wells lays down his fiddle to provide clawhammer banjo as the only accompaniment for Don's voice.     Midnight Call's repertoire is drawn from some excellent songwriters (Shawn Camp, Marty Rabon, Jim Lauderdale, Mark Brinkman, Larry Shell, Kim Williams, Tim Stafford, and others). Bobby Cyrus is a co-writer of "Big Jim." I'm curious as to whether Big Jim is a fictional folkloric character or whether there was actually a man who sacrificed himself for others. You may recall that it was Cyrus who penned the reflective "Carved Our Names in Stone" that was sung solo by Rigsby on his last solo album, The Midnight Call. Farmers, family, life and love get ample coverage in the songs. For his song of home, he belts out an inspired rendition of Bill Monroe's "Kentucky Waltz." Another tale from that region is an intoxicating "Daddy Was A Moonshine Man." A standard instrumental, "Forked Deer" gallops along, but I hope their future projects introduce us to new tunes. Sung solo, "Old Green Chevrolet" relates a tale of a traveling preacher bringing the gospel to mountain folks, and I missed a little harmony on the choruses.     With "Hillbilly Heartache," evocative messages get us thinking, smiling, contemplating, and even laughing when the intoxicating "Daddy Was A Moonshine Man" cues up. This Kentuckian clearly has strong mountain roots, and he knows what it takes to produce a very compelling bluegrass album. His reputation and dedication to traditional music, and his innovative vision for the future, are well documented. While he may have stretched boundaries a bit in the past, "Hillbilly Heartache" is simply a hallmark album for a superb band to showcase its contemporary bluegrass. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)
Output: POS