One Step Forward, the Lonesome River Band's 1996 album, represents a slight opening toward mainstream country accessibility while maintaining the instrumental rigor that defined their best work. The band, anchored by Sammy Shelor's banjo and the strong vocal presence of Don Rigsby, showed a willingness to engage material that expanded their songwriting palette. Rigsby's high tenor gave the band a different vocal character than the Ronnie Bowman years, and his background in traditional mountain music ensured that the group's Appalachian roots remained audible. The album captures a period of transition within an ensemble that had always defined itself partly by not standing still.
Tracklist
- 1 When You Go Walking (After Midnight) 3:32
- 2 Say I Do 2:28
- 3 Sorry County Blues 3:16
- 4 Southern Comfort 3:03
- 5 Thank God For Mama 3:08
- 6 Flat Broke And Lonesome 2:45
- 7 Carolyn the Teenage Queen 3:27
- 8 Crossroads 2:53
- 9 Katy Daley 2:25
- 10 This Lonesome Song 3:01
- 11 Crazy Heart 2:34
- 12 Georgia Mail 2:35