Aubrey Haynie
The Bluegrass Fiddle Album

Review By Steven Stone
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CD Number: Sugar Hill Records SUG-CD-3957

  Earnest Hemmingway once wrote "Writing is beating dead guys at their own game." Playing traditional fiddle is very similar. You must prove you can play well-worn fiddle tunes better than your processors. Aubrey Haynie has been doing just that since winning Nashville's Grand Masters fiddle championships in his mid-teens. Since 18 Aubrey turned pro, he's been kept busy playing on albums by Pam Tillis, Trisha Yearwood, Clint Black, Wynonna, Travis Tritt, Martina Mcbride, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Randy Travis, Brooks and Dunn, Lari White and many others. At the grand old age of 29, Aubrey Haynie has graduated to a rarefied category occupied by only a handful of other players. The Bluegrass Fiddle Album is Haynie's third solo release on Sugar Hill Records.

Unlike his last release, A Man Must Carry On, which included many vocal tunes, The Bluegrass Fiddle Album contains solely instrumentals. Three traditional tunes, "Bill Cheatham," "Okk Pik Waltz," and "Make a Little Boat," join six Kenny Baker compositions, an Arthur Smith tune, and two original pieces. Accompanied by a stellar band made up of Barry Bales on bass, Sam Bush on mandolin, Tony Rice on guitar, and David Talbot on banjo, Aubrey Haynie makes even the most often recorded selections, like "Bill Cheatham," sound fresh and new.

Recently I discovered a great computer program for my McIntosh called "Transcriber" that makes it possible for the player to slow down and analyze a tune in detail. I predict that most of the cuts on this CD are going to get subjected to heavy "Transcriber" sessions. Certainly destined to be part of any serious bluegrasser's core repertoire, The Bluegrass Fiddle Album will either inspire you to practice more or, depending on your personality, make you want to leave your instrument in the closet forever.

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