"Acapella Hymnal," released in November 2017 on 9Lives Records (9LR 17108), is a purely unaccompanied solo gospel album by Don Rigsby — 14 tracks featuring only his voice, with no instruments of any kind. Rigsby — a former mandolinist and singer for the Lonesome River Band and Longview, and widely regarded as one of bluegrass's finest tenors — stripped everything away here to concentrate on the devotional tradition, performing hymns including "How Great Thou Art," "I'll Fly Away," and "Letter from My Father" in a style adjacent to the Sacred Harp and shape-note singing tradition, rendered in his distinctively bluegrass-inflected voice. The album won the Association of Independent Music Gospel Album of the Year award and stands as one of the most austere and sincere expressions of sacred music in the contemporary bluegrass world.
Tracklist
- 1 Letter from My Father 3:20
- 2 Pass Me Not 4:56
- 3 The Old Rugged Cross alt version 2:59
- 4 Pslam 23 0:50
- 5 I'm Gonna Die on the Battlefield 2:28
- 6 I’ll Fly Away alt version 3:57
- 7 There is a Fountain 4:30
- 8 How Great Thou Art alt version 3:12
- 9 I Want to Stroll over Heaven 2:28
- 10 On Heaven’s Bright Shore alt version 4:05
- 11 From John 3 2:46
- 12 Almost Home 4:06
- 13 What a Friend We Have in Jesus alt version 3:33
- 14 Precious Memories alt version 2:49
