Most of today’s bluegrass musicians seek to achieve a well-balanced tension between tradition, vitality and fresh interpretation. Few recent bands have accomplished this as well as Rock County on its self-titled CD.
Rock County is a collection of bluegrass veterans. Mandolinist Don Rigsby and fiddler Glen Duncan form the band’s core and two-thirds of its exquisite vocal trio. Ray Craft (of Unlimited Tradition) plays guitar and alternates vocal leads with Rigsby. Robin Smith, formerly of Lonesome Standard Time, is on bass. Dale Vanderpool, most recently heard with Melvin Goins’ Windy Mountain Boys, plays banjo in the best Earl Scruggs tradition.
The first cut, “Harvest Of My Heart”, is a modal, mountain-tinged number leading into Stanley Brothers, Hank Williams and Larry Sparks material. Although the CD covers several classics (“Too Late To Cry”, “My Sweet Love Ain’t Around”), one of the most satisfying songs is a Craft original, “Weary Lonesome Blues”. It’s a wonderful example of that odd bluegrass phenomenon: the delightfully happy heartbreak number.
Tom T. Hall contributes an invigorating, banjo-driven executioner’s song, “Turn It On, Turn It On, Turn It On”. Cuts by Nashville writers Kelly Lovelace, Jerry Salley and Jim Rushing are convincingly down-to-earth.
Throughout, the instrumentation is striking in its simplicity. The breaks on the lone instrumental, “The Hills Of Avalon”, stick lovingly close to the melody. Duncan’s fiddle is dominant on nearly every track, providing a voice as compelling as Rigsby’s and Craft’s.