Christmas in the Mountains (CD - 2003)

Personnel: Freddy Gibson, Keith Whitley, Larry Sparks, Ralph Stanley II, Tommy Holt, Tommy Edwards (vocals, guitar); Allen Mills (vocals); Scottie Sparks (tenor, guitar); Jeff Orr (tenor, banjo); Alice Zincone, Ralph Stanley (tenor); Eddie Adcock, Wes Vanderpool, Ronald Smith (baritone, banjo); Paul Williams (baritone, mandolin); Jack Cooke, Michael Aldridge (baritone); Charlie Waller (bass voice, guitar); James Alan Shelton (guitar); Tommy Boyd (dobro, banjo); David Burke (dobro); Steve Sparkman (banjo); Dempsey Young, Tim Duran, Jeff Stuart, John Rigsby (mandolin); Keith Williams, James Price, Billy Baker, Bobby Slone (fiddle); Ray Marshall (vibraphone).

Photographer: Charles Shoffner.

While balladeers often celebrate the winter holiday by singing of crowded city sidewalks and decorated storefront windows, country folks celebrate by singing of quieter seasonal pleasures. Christmas in the Mountains collects 14 songs from bluegrass favorites, including Ralph Stanley, Larry Sparks, and the Country Gentlemen. While contemporary singers rock around a synthetic Christmas tree, these old-fashioned performers seek comfort in home, family, and traditional values. Sparks offers an extra-sad version of "Blue Christmas" that's adorned by Tommy Boyd's dobro, while the Wildwood Valley Boys sing of "Christmas in Caroline." There are a couple of classics, "Christmas Time Back Home" and "Silent Night," by the Country Gentlemen, and a spruced-up "Christmas in Virginia" by the the Lost & Found. No Yuletide collection would be complete without a couple of tearjerkers and they are provided here by Tommy Edwards on "The Christmas Letter" and Paul Williams on "I Can't Go Home This Christmas." Over and over, Christmas in the Mountains rejoices in spending time with loved ones and the quiet solitude of winter in the mountains. For those who complain that the winter holiday has become too commercial and that no one remembers the real reason for the season, Christmas in the Mountains will serve as a fitting antidote. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. minimize