Bound to Ride established Jim Mills as a banjo player of exceptional technical command and stylistic awareness, building on years of competition success and ensemble work. Recorded in 1998, the album features Mills demonstrating command of the Scruggs style at a level that reminded listeners of why that approach to the five-string banjo remains the genre's central instrumental achievement. The track listing includes 'Groundhog,' 'John Henry Blues,' and 'Poor Ellen Smith,' traditional pieces that connect directly to the pre-bluegrass string band and ballad traditions. His commitment to the Scruggs vocabulary, pursued at a time when banjo playing was fragmenting in many stylistic directions, reads as both artistic conviction and act of cultural preservation.
Tracklist
- 1 Bound to Ride alt version 2:03
- 2 Ole Slew Foot alt version 2:34
- 3 John Henry Blues Source Recording 4:13
- 4 Rockwood Deer Chase 2:51
- 5 Ain't Gonna Lay My Armor Down 2:44
- 6 Rebecca alt version 3:14
- 7 He Came From Carolina (A Tribute To Earl) 3:26
- 8 There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight 3:31
- 9 Big Tilda 2:02
- 10 Poor Ellen Smith Source Recording 2:31
- 11 Charley Horse Stomp 2:32
- 12 Groundhog Source Recording 2:12
- 13 How Great Thou Art alt version 3:12
