Even in bluegrass, where instrumental ability is an across-the-board prerequisite, sidemen are often overlooked, and for a long time there’s been no more egregious a case of insufficient acclaim than that of Bobby Hicks, former Blue Grass Boy, member of the Bluegrass Album Band studio supergroup, and lone remaining member of Ricky Skaggs’ hot country band of the early 1980s. Now, with the release of his first solo album in almost 20 years, the North Carolina native may get more of the recognition he deserves; Fiddle Patch is an outstanding collection that reasserts his mastery of the fiddle in ways both amazing and delightful.
With a penchant for both bluegrass and swing, Hicks is one of a handful of fiddlers whose tastes encompass multiple styles, but whose position within a craft-conscious tradition leads them not to synthesize, but to master them. “Katy Hill” is as straight as straight-ahead bluegrass can be — and as good as good bluegrass can get — while his version of Manuel Ponce’s “Estrellita” perfectly captures the tune’s pop-tinged sway. On “Faded Love”, Hicks states the melody in a pure bluegrass setting, then returns to lead the band through an elegant variation full of the passing chords and sophisticated harmonies that lie along the blurry border between Western swing and swing itself. Like Johnny Gimble, Buddy Spicher (who appears on one cut), and his mentor, the late Dale Potter (composer of the title number), Hicks covers a lot of ground, always finding the right line and arrangement for a song, filling it with music that is at once graceful, accomplished and soulful, but though he shares a breadth of talent with these men (and a few others), Hicks is unmatched in the depth of his bluegrass knowledge and feeling.
Unlike his previous solo effort, 1978’s half-bluegrass, half-Western swing Texas Crapshooter (with Buddy Emmons on pedal steel), Fiddle Patch relies on wholly acoustic backup, anchored by Kentucky Thunder rhythm section bandmates Bryan Sutton and Mark Fain and Ronnie McCoury on mandolin. Banjo is handled mostly by Rob McCoury and the superb Craig Smith, and Del McCoury adds two fine lead vocals, the jaunty “We’re Steppin’ Out Tonight” and Marty Stuart and Harlan Howard’s mournful “Oh, What A Silent Night”. On the latter, Stuart and Ronnie McCoury share harmonies and trade mandolin breaks.
Hicks makes his lead vocal debut on the affecting “Lily Dale”, boss Skaggs himself blessing the job with smooth Western vocal backups. The entire ensemble is equally adept at the old-time flavor of “Whiskey Before Breakfast” and the swing of “Prosperity Special”, as well as the lilt of the mandatory waltzes, Gimble’s “Gardenia Waltz” and Hicks’ own “Angel’s Waltz”. Sutton in particular is a revelation; his cool, delicate solos here contrast nicely with the fire of his work with Skaggs.
No matter how outstanding the accompanists (or singers, for that matter), Hicks’ fiddling keeps center stage, not because he’s elbowing the others out of the way but because the power, inventiveness and exuberance of his playing demands it — especially the trademark double stops he learned from Dale Potter but extended in a way all his own. I’d call the album a tour de force, but that would understate its warmth and down-home flavor. Fiddle Patch isn’t a flashy album; it’s just one for the ages.