Let ’Er Go, Boys! was released by Rounder on 28 March 2006 (Rounder 11661-0561-2), Michael Cleveland’s solo follow-up to Flame Keeper (2002). Jeff White and Cleveland produced it; it was recorded at Hilltop Studios in Nashville, with additional recording in Indianapolis and Nashville, and Tom Adams wrote the liner notes.
The seventeen tracks mix fiddle tunes, vocal songs and three Bill Monroe pieces: “The Old Brown County Barn,” “Dark as the Night, Blue as the Day” and “The Old Mountaineer.” Cleveland wrote “Bright and Early” and co-wrote “Hopelessly in Love” with Pete Goble, and the album also includes Arthur Smith’s “Sugar Tree Stomp,” Jimmy Martin’s “Night” and Jack Clement’s “Miller’s Cave.” Most tracks use Audie Blaylock on guitar, Jesse Brock on mandolin and Jason Moore on bass, with Charlie Cushman or Pete Kelly on banjo; Cleveland plays fiddle throughout and also mandolin and guitar on some tracks.
Guests take the vocals on several songs. Del McCoury sings and plays guitar on “Montana Cowboy,” Dan Tyminski and Vince Gill sing “Dark as the Night, Blue as the Day,” Larry Sparks sings “Old Man and His Fiddle,” and Jeff White leads “Hello City Limits” with Tyminski on tenor and Cleveland on baritone.
At the 2006 IBMA awards the album won Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year, Tom Adams’s liner notes won Liner Notes of the Year, and Cleveland was named Fiddle Player of the Year.
Tracklist
- 1 The Old Brown County Barn Source Recording 2:45
- 2 Night 2:47
- 3 Bright And Early 3:51
- 4 Old Man And His Fiddle 4:41
- 5 Durham's Reel 1:47
- 6 Montana Cowboy alt version 2:40
- 7 Dark as the Night Blue as the Day alt version 3:51
- 8 Sugar In The Gourd 2:35
- 9 Stone's Rag 2:45
- 10 Hello City Limits alt version 3:13
- 11 Hopelessly In Love 4:17
- 12 The Old Mountaineer 4:30
- 13 Flower Blooming In The Wildwood 3:17
- 14 Old Joe 2:01
- 15 Sugar Tree Stomp 3:36
- 16 Miller's Cave 3:03
- 17 Cacklin' Hen 3:01
