CMT Blog: Archive

I'll go see the bluegrass band Blue Highway every chance I get - unless it's after midnight. Not even once during IBMA's World of Bluegrass week was I able to pull an all-nighter, but that didn't stop me from enjoying a full week of music. I missed Blue Highway's official showcase on Wednesday night, but I was pleased to hear them on Friday, just one day after "Though the Window of a Train" won an IBMA award for song of the year. I'm always impressed with their original songs and their musicianship. Can you believe they have kept the same lineup since winning their first IBMA award in 1996? In bluegrass, that's almost unheard of.

Ronnie Bowman put on a fine show on Saturday evening, with a batch of new material he's recently recorded. He also offered a solo rendition of "It's Getting Better All the Time," a song he co-wrote that Brooks & Dunn took all the way to No. 1. Bowman and his wife, Garnet, sang harmonies for Melonie Cannon at a private show earlier in the week. Melonie has finally completed her second album (I wore out my copy of the first one), and the new material lives up to my expectations. She's an exquisite singer with impeccable control of her voice. In a quiet setting like the hotel suite where she sang, I found myself leaning in like a kid hearing a story. Her album comes out tomorrow (Oct. 7), and it's definitely worth a listen.

I also have a new band on my radar called Cumberland Gap Connection from Kentucky. They are working on a new album produced by Steve Gulley (an incomparable bluegrass singer), so I'm looking forward to hearing that. But until then, I will be completely satisfied with my Blue Highway records.