It's a Long, Long Road, released on Rebel in 1995, was the debut album of Blue Highway, and it announced a band that arrived remarkably fully formed. The founding lineup — Tim Stafford, Shawn Lane, Wayne Taylor, Jason Burleson, and Rob Ickes — combined the harmonic sophistication of the newgrass era with a deep commitment to the traditional sound, a balance that would define the group across the decades to follow. Few first records carry this much assurance: the writing is strong, the ensemble playing unshowy and exact, and the vocal blend already distinctive. Stafford and Taylor's songwriting gave the set its backbone, while Rob Ickes's dobro lent the band an immediately recognizable color. The album launched one of the most respected careers in the music — a debut its makers and their peers alike would return to as a benchmark.
Tracklist
- 1 It's A Long, Long Road 3:20
- 2 Lonesome Pine Source Recording 3:08
- 3 Canadian Bacon 2:32
- 4 Before The Cold Wind Blows 5:11
- 5 Blue Ridge Mountain Girl Source Recording 3:44
- 6 Farmer's Blues 4:02
- 7 The One I Left Behind 3:22
- 8 In the Gravel Yard Source Recording 3:05
- 9 England's Motorway 5:05
- 10 Flannery's Dream 2:49
- 11 Lord, Won't You Help Me 2:30
- 12 Say Won’t You Be Mine Source Recording 3:00
