Veteran Nashville songwriter Irene Kelley and small town native of Pennsylvania has a new singer-songwriter bluegrass CD coming out in the early part of February, 2014. This is all acoustic music produced by Mark Fain. Kelley has written hits for lots of other artists.
This CD is a tribute to her coal mining grandfather who was a coalminer in Pennsylvania. This is no ordinary Bluegrass CD, I mean it is loaded with some of the truly best talent on the Nashville music scene today. A sampling of the musicians is Mark Fain on Bass, Bryan Sutton on guitar, banjo and dojo for one track. The music is nothing less than Sparkling, like a cool mountain stream. More musicians include Adam Steffey on mandolin, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Lynn Williams on Drums and percussion, and Irene Kelley, autoharp.
Background singers include Dale Ann Bradley, Steve Gulley, Claire Lynch, Trisha Yearwood, Darren Vincent, Carl Jackson, Rhonda Vincent and Chip Davis, just to mention the best.
There is really not a bad song on this whole CD , maybe some stick out more, but the selection and vocals make them great. “Sister’s Heart” has a neat pattern of banjo playing which helps define the sparsely produced song. “Things We never did” has a traditional vein in it. “Angels Around Her” with Claire Lynch has some real nice harmonies flowing thru it. Some great fiddle and mandolin too. “Better With Time” is a slow ballad with Trisha Yearwood singing backup vocals. Bryan Sutton plays some really nice guitar runs on this song. “Garden Of Dreams” is a beautiful ballad with some of Irenes’ best vocal work. Probably the most upbeat song with a catchy melody is the opener “You Don’t Run Across My Mind”, and vocal help of Darrin Vincent.
Overall, a very well done project, with excellent arrangements, both vocally and instrumentally. This CD will be released on Feb 11, 2014 on Patio Records.
