I was wondering if some of you bluegrass guys could suggest some artists or particular CD's to check out. Here's the rub though: the music I tend to like is not traditional bluegrass (I can't stand banjos except far in the background, sorry). If I could find some more pure instrumental stuff like the following I would be a happy camper:

• Bryan Sutton - Not Too Far From The Tree
• Jerry Douglas, Russ Barenberg & Edgar Meyer - Skip, Hop & Wobble
• Russ Barenberg - When At Last

Suggestions?

Jim,

A couple of recordings that come immediately to mind are "Hootenanny" and "I've Got the House to Myself" by David Grier, who is among the best flatpickers ever. "House" is solo guitar, and the other may have one or two tunes with banjo, but mostly not. If you go to Amazon.com (perhaps other sites, too) you can listen to 30 second snips of each of the tunes on the CDs to see if they strike your fancy. Grier's "Panorama" is also brilliant, but I think several tunes have banjo. I think several Tony Rice recordings from the 80's have mostly him singing and playing his distinctive guitar style. If I think of some others, I'll chime back in.

B

B
check out Clarence White, "Flatpick" & "33 Guitar Instrumentals, early foundations of Bluegrass guitar, little or no banjo

Hmm. I think my personal list would be just about endless but just off the top of my head:
#1 - unquestionably - Tony Rice - "Manzanita" - no banjo
#2 - desert island stuff - Skaggs & Rice - guitar, mando, 2 voices
#3 - "Bluegrass Guitar Duets" - Steve Pottier & Sandy Rothman
#4 - Dudley Hill - "From A Northern Family"

If you are interested in flatpicking other than pure bluegrass you may want to check out Chris Newman (available from Oldbridge music) his solo album is great. Also for flatpicked celtic guitar Arty McGlyn - very early recording which I have somewhere and is still availabe, McGlyn's Fancy was the first really authentic sounding Irish flatpicking and a milestone recording in the genre.

Thanks for the recommendations guys. I ordered "I've Got The House to Myself", "33 Guitar Instrumentals", and "Bluegrass Guitar Duets". Phil - All the Chris Newman and Arty Glyn stuff I found was wildly expensive (imports for me) and no sound clips so I didn't take the leap.

From what I heard, plenty of good listening here and great inspiration to get off my butt and expand my skills into bluegrass flatpicking. Thanks.

Climbing the Walls- Grier & Compton

Whiskey before Breakfast- Norman Blake

Slide Effects- Phil Leadbetter (steel guitar)

Mountain Tradition- Clay Jones is my sleeper favorite.

I recently gave away 23 cd's here on the forum (BrazAd da winna) but I kept these and some others.

I heard you about banjos, but you also mentioned you like Bryan Sutton, so here's a thought. For my money the best of Bryan's albums musically is "Bluegrass Guitar," which uses the same ensemble throughout. Yes, there is banjo on most tunes, but it's tasty and nicely integrated. And Bryan's guitar is prominent and awesome, and there's a nice interplay with Tim O'Brien's mandolin. Might be worth checking out.

B

I'm with B Woods, I prefer Bryan Sutton's Bluegrass Guitar to the duets CD Not Too Far From The Tree, though as a Sutton fan I've got them all.

Ah... "Climbing the Walls", "Whiskey Before Breakfast", and "Bluegrass Guitar" ordered.

B - From the clips I see what you mean about the banjo being tasty and nicely integrated. That I can handle.

No banjo...but have you heard Bela's banjo playing. Nothing grating to the nerves. Check out "Drive" and "Tales from the Acoustic Planet: The Bluegrass Sessions."

Otherwise, I just bought a CD by Dale Adkins (www.cdbaby.com) on which he plays a '39 D-18 solo. I think more of it is finger picked than flatpicked. It's just nice guitar playing...slower than the typical flatpicking race horse...all original tunes.

And more on the folksy side, "10,000 Miles" with Scott Nygaard and the Webster Sisters. Beautiful harmonies and some tasty guitar playing by Scott.

"Blu du Genova" by Beppe Gambetta.

"The David Grisman Quintet" from about 1976. This is the album that started me in this love of acoustic string music.

I was tempted before, but since Eric brought it up: Favorite instrumental CD of all time: "Drive," by Bela Fleck. Eleven brilliant original compositions elaborated on by some of the preeminent acoustic musicians of our day. Oddly enough, I can think of a couple of guitar players I would have preferred over Tony in this setting, but everyone else's playing is as good as they've ever done before or since. I've been listening to this recording a lot for at least ten years, and I still marvel at Sam Bush's mandolin playing. Acoustic Planet is great, too, though maybe a little bit less integrated.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

B

(But Jim, "Drive" just might change your mind about bluegrass banjo. And then there's Jens Kruger........)