Sounds of the Mountains (Rounder CD 0447, 1998) is the debut album from Ramblers Choice, the Virginia band formed in 1997 when Junior Sisk, Tim Massey, and Elmer Burchett departed Wyatt Rice & Santa Cruz seeking a more traditionally rooted sound. Recorded in October 1997, the album features Sisk (guitar, lead vocals), Massey (bass, mandolin, vocals), Burchett and Alan Perdue (banjo), and an eighteen-year-old Jim VanCleve on fiddle — one of VanCleve's earliest significant studio credits before he joined Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Songwriting is dominated by Massey and Lonesome River Band veteran Ronnie Bowman. Praised as "no-nonsense bluegrass, well-written and well-performed," the album established Sisk as a serious voice in contemporary traditional bluegrass.
Tracklist
- 1 Enough on My Mind Source Recording 2:34
- 2 What About You 3:04
- 3 Sounds of the Mountains 2:52
- 4 Mama's Flowers 3:50
- 5 Sit And Sing The Blues 2:26
- 6 No More Painting Up This Town 2:49
- 7 Sweet Country Lovin' 2:06
- 8 When the Mountain Dew Starts Falling 3:19
- 9 Shotgun Slade 3:12
- 10 Education From On High 2:57
- 11 Springtime And Roses 2:18
- 12 Poor Rambler 3:27
