"If I Go Ten Thousand Miles," released in 1996 on Rounder Records (CD-0384), is the solo debut of Kentucky-born old-time multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell. A deep immersion in Appalachian string-band tradition, the album features Powell on fiddle, banjo, and related instruments alongside home recordings of Powell with his maternal grandfather, James Clarence Hay, captured in 1990 in Ashland, Kentucky — conversations and picking sessions that anchor the record in the oral transmission of musical tradition rather than performance polish. Powell later became equally known as a Cajun and Creole player and film composer (Cold Mountain, among others), but this debut stands squarely in the Appalachian old-time world, establishing the preservationist credentials that have defined his ongoing work across multiple roots traditions.
Tracklist
- 1 Lonesome Dove 2:58
- 2 Morehead 2:08
- 3 Little Satchel alt version 5:02
- 4 Wake Robin / Bravest Cowboy 3:02
- 5 Cousin Sally Brown 2:32
- 6 Rubin 3:47
- 7 Pretty Polly alt version 3:33
- 8 Getting Upstairs 2:20
- 9 Brown-Eyed Rabbit 3:03
- 10 Craggy Spring 2:12
- 11 Adieu False Heart 2:14
- 12 Pleasure Of A Single Life 2:31
- 13 Old Virginia 1:40
- 14 Throw Down Your Earthly Crown 2:52
- 15 I Am the Man Thomas alt version 1:56
- 16 Sweet Sunny South alt version 3:27
- 17 Hunky Dory / Ryestraw 3:09
- 18 God Gave Noah the Rainbow Sign alt version 3:08
- 19 Sixteen And One 2:49
