Fiddle Patch cover

Fiddle Patch

Bobby Hicks

Album · 1998 · Rounder CD 0416

Fiddle Patch (Rounder CD 0416, 1998) is a solo album by fiddler Bobby Hicks, recorded in December 1996 at Eleven-O-Three Studio in Nashville. Hicks, born in Newton, North Carolina, in 1933, played with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in the 1950s and was hired by Ricky Skaggs on May 21, 1981; he stayed with Skaggs for twenty-two years. He had been under-recorded as a solo artist before this album, which was named Instrumental Album of the Year by members of the International Bluegrass Music Association.

Ronnie McCoury plays mandolin on all but one track, Bryan Sutton guitar and Mark Fain bass throughout; the banjo is played by Rob McCoury, Craig Smith or, on “Lily Dale,” Charlie Cushman. Buddy Spicher plays harmony fiddle on “Prosperity Special,” Marty Stuart adds mandolin on “Angel’s Waltz,” and Del McCoury sings “We’re Stepping Out Tonight” and “Oh, What a Silent Night,” the latter with Ronnie McCoury and Stuart on harmony. Hicks sings lead on “Lily Dale,” with Ricky Skaggs on mandolin and harmony.

The fiddle tunes include “Katy Hill,” “Whiskey Before Breakfast” and “Prosperity Special.” Waltzes include Johnny Gimble’s “Gardenia Waltz” and Hicks’s own “Angel’s Waltz,” and the Bob Wills repertoire is represented by “Faded Love” and “Comanche Hit and Run.” The title tune was written by Dale Potter.

Tracklist

  1. 1 Katy Hill Source Recording Traditional · key G · 154 bpm 2:41
  2. 2 We're Steppin' Out Tonight 3:29
  3. 3 Gardenia Waltz 4:30
  4. 4 Twinkle Little Star 2:43
  5. 5 Comanche Hit And Run 3:12
  6. 6 Faded Love alt version 2:57
  7. 7 Oh, What A Silent Night 4:29
  8. 8 Prosperity Special 3:54
  9. 9 Angel's Waltz 3:37
  10. 10 Whiskey Before Breakfast alt version 2:51
  11. 11 Estrellita 4:40
  12. 12 Lily Dale 4:07
  13. 13 Fiddle Patch 2:32

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