Knee Deep in Bluegrass: The AcuTab Sessions (Rebel REB-CD 1759) was released on 6 June 2000. AcuTab publishes tablature books of solos by bluegrass players, and the album was initiated by its founder, John Lawless, to celebrate the musicians who have contributed to those books. Its fourteen tracks are each credited to one featured player, joined by a rotating band, and four of them are vocal numbers: “Lonesome Wind,” “Benny McCoy,” “Home Run Man” and “Pretty Boy Floyd.”
Ronnie Bowman is the featured name on “Lonesome Wind,” with Dan Tyminski and Kenny Smith on guitars, Sammy Shelor on banjo, Adam Steffey on mandolin, Ron Stewart on fiddle and Barry Bales on bass. Tim Stafford and Kenny Smith play “Angeline the Baker” as a guitar duet, and Stafford is also the featured name on “Pretty Boy Floyd,” with Rob Ickes on resonator guitar. The banjo tracks are led by Terry Baucom (“Knee Deep in Bluegrass”), Alan O’Bryant (“Benny McCoy”), Sammy Shelor (“Turkey in the Straw,” with Stewart on fiddle, and “Daddy’s Dream”), Tony Trischka (“Buffalo Creek”), Scott Vestal (“By Stealth”), Alan Munde (“Four Leaf Clover”) and Pete Wernick, who plays “Little Liza Jane” alone. Mark Newton is the featured name on “Home Run Man,” and mandolinist Butch Baldassari leads “Carter’s Blues” and “Golden Slippers” with Wayne Benson and Alan Bibey on additional mandolins.
The International Bluegrass Music Association named the album Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year in 2001.
Tracklist
- 1 Lonesome Wind Source Recording 2:48
- 2 Angeline the Baker alt version 4:13
- 3 Knee Deep in Bluegrass Source Recording 2:19
- 4 Benny McCoy 3:49
- 5 Turkey in the Straw alt version 3:09
- 6 Carter’s Blues Source Recording 2:35
- 7 Buffalo Creek 3:55
- 8 Pretty Boy Floyd 3:33
- 9 Golden Slippers Source Recording 2:44
- 10 By Stealth 2:56
- 11 Home Run Man 2:15
- 12 Four Leaf Clover 2:37
- 13 Little Liza Jane alt version 3:01
- 14 Daddy's Dream 3:11
