Personnel: Del McCoury (vocals, tenor); Ronnie Bowman (vocals, baritone); Jon Randall, Junior Sisk, Leigh Gibson, Lou Reid , Vince Gill, Jamie Dailey (vocals, guitar); Dale Perry (vocals, banjo); Tim O'Brien (vocals, mandolin, fiddle); Don Rigsby, Alan Bibey, Sam Bush (vocals, mandolin); Doyle Lawson, John Cowan, Larry Sparks, Alison Krauss, Barry Scott (vocals); Ed Biggerstaff, Steve Gulley (tenor); Jerry Douglas (guitar, dobro); Mike Barber (guitar, upright bass); Kenny Smith , Scott Nygaard, Sean Watkins, Tim Stafford, Tony Rice, Bryan Sutton (guitar); Mike Auldridge (dobro); Ron Stewart (banjo, fiddle); Eric Gibson , Craig Robert Smith, Dennis "Cannonball" Caplinger, J.D. Crowe, Jim Mills, Ron Block, Sammy Shelor, Terry Baucom, B?la Fleck, Ben Eldridge, David Talbot (banjo); Mark Schatz (claw hammer banjo); Chris Thile (bouzouki); Stuart Duncan (harp, fiddle); John J. Moore, Dan Tyminski, Marc MacGlashan, John Duffey, Adam Steffey (mandolin); Gabe Witcher, Tim Crouch, Jason Carter , Sara Watkins , Hunter Berry, Byron Berline (fiddle); Larry Atamanuik (drums, percussion).
Illustrator: Sue Meyer.
Arranger: Don Rigsby.
Good compilations are a lot like a radio program without commercials. They allow the listener to enjoy quality music for 50 or 60 minutes without commercial interruptions and station breaks. Compilations also give labels like Sugar Hill a chance to show off their cadre of artists and introduce -- to anyone who's been living in a cave the last few years -- just what they have to offer. Bluegrass All Stars smartly decides to concentrate on one of the label's specialties: that backwoods genre of mountain music introduced by Bill Monroe and his band over 50 years ago. The collection is nicely balanced between traditional and contemporary styles, featuring artists from Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and Alan Bibey to Sam Bush and the Seldom Scene. The sparkling "Smoothie Song" by Nickel Creek kicks off the collection, and it's one of most exciting acoustic instrumentals to thus far surface in the post-millennium. Alison Krauss -- a Rounder artist -- makes a guest appearance on Jerry Douglas' "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby," and Tim O'Brien offers up a neo-traditional take on Bob Dylan's "Maggie's Farm." There's no filler on Bluegrass All Stars, which makes it the perfect introduction to Sugar Hill, the individual artists, and bluegrass of the previous ten years. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford Jr.
