Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass Tribute to 1946 and 1947

iTunes Review

Ricky Skaggs wasn’t even a gleam in his daddy’s eye when Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys began their now-storied careers. Here, with reverence in their hearts and fire in their fingers, Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder leap back 60 years to recreate Monroe’s groundbreaking 1946-47 Columbia sessions on Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass. Like great Shakespearian actors reviving a classic play, Skaggs and his bandmates make these seminal songs sound fresh and sparkling again. The rollicking versions of “It’s Mighty Dark to Travel,””Why Did You Wander,” and “Bluegrass Breakdown” captured here would surely have made Monroe smile, likewise the blend of austere dignity and unshakable faith heard in closely-harmonized numbers like “Mother’s Only Sleeping,” “Mansions For Me,” and “Remember the Cross.” Skaggs’ quicksilver mandolin runs, Cody Kilby’s dancing guitar lines, and Andy Leftwich’s sad ‘n’ sweet fiddle stand out among the impeccable ensemble work. Banjo legend (and surviving Bluegrass Boy) Earl Scruggs sits in on “Goin’ Back to Old Kentucky,” while Del McCoury lends his piercing tenor to “The Old Crossroads.”