Not Too Far From the Tree (Sugar Hill Records SUG-CD-4001, 2006) is a studio album from guitarist Bryan Sutton built around acoustic guitar duets recorded without overdubbing alongside eleven different partners. Sutton plays guitar throughout; David Grier is among the eleven duet collaborators, each bringing a distinct flat-pick voice to the conversation. Other partners include Tony Rice, Doc Watson, Norman Blake, Earl Scruggs, Dan Crary, and Russ Barenberg, among others. Sutton visited each collaborator with a 1940 Martin D-28 and a portable recording rig, producing an album that documents acoustic guitar tradition as a living shared practice rather than a solo showcase. Each pairing yields a different tonal and stylistic encounter, and the album stands as both a personal artistic statement and a survey of the flat-pick idiom's breadth at a particular moment in its history.
Tracklist
- 1 Forked Deer alt version 2:56
- 2 Bully of the Town alt version 2:46
- 3 The Nine Pound Hammer 3:31
- 4 Lonesome Fiddle Blues alt version 3:35
- 5 Billy In The Lowground 3:03
- 6 Stoney Creek 3:01
- 7 The Old Spinning Wheel Source Recording 4:04
- 8 Big Sciota alt version 3:13
- 9 Whiskey Before Breakfast alt version 2:52
- 10 Bonaparte’s Retreat alt version 3:33
- 11 Give Me The Roses 2:53
- 12 Carroll County Blues 4:26
- 13 Dusty Miller alt version 3:19
- 14 Ragtime Annie alt version 3:27