Long Steel Rail (Sugar Hill Records, 2006) is Riley Baugus's full-length showcase of Appalachian old-time music, produced by Tim O'Brien and Dirk Powell, who both appear as multi-instrumentalists alongside Baugus — swapping fiddle, banjo, and guitar throughout. Baugus, a Winston-Salem, North Carolina native and master of clawhammer banjo and fiddle, draws on obscure traditional material alongside better-known songs, building each track from the spare, deep-tradition foundation that defines his playing. Billboard called the result "quintessential American old-time music," praising the instrumental precision and a vocal delivery rooted in the mountain tradition. The album serves as both a scholarly document of the living oral tradition and a deeply felt musical statement from one of its most committed practitioners.
Tracklist
- 1 Long Steel Rail 3:11
- 2 June Apple alt version 2:12
- 3 What Are They Doing In Heaven 4:12
- 4 Sail Away Ladies alt version 3:04
- 5 Rove Riley Rove 2:50
- 6 Wandering Boy 3:43
- 7 Boll Weevil alt version 3:00
- 8 Old John Henry 3:20
- 9 Willow Tree 3:26
- 10 George Collins 3:22
- 11 I’m Troubled alt version 2:42
- 12 No Corn On Tygart 2:36
- 13 Lonesome Road Blues alt version 2:28
- 14 Now Is The Cool Of The Day 3:35
