True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe by Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick, released in 1996, is a focused and affectionate tribute to the composer whose songs form the backbone of the bluegrass canon. Lewis and Kallick — both significant figures in the California progressive bluegrass scene — bring their own harmonic sensibilities to Monroe's material, and the result is a record that honors the source without simple imitation. "Little Cabin Home on the Hill" and "True Life Blues" are among the best-known Monroe compositions, and the duo's versions reveal how much formal intelligence is embedded in songs that can seem straightforward on the surface. The album appeared a year before Monroe's death and stands as a respectful accounting of his songwriting legacy from two musicians who understood what they were inheriting.
Tracklist
- 1 Molly And Tenbrooks 3:15
- 2 True Life Blues 2:48
- 3 I'm On My Way Back To The Old Home 2:10
- 4 Highway Of Sorrow 2:55
- 5 Old Ebenezer Scrooge 2:48
- 6 Memories Of You 3:07
- 7 Rawhide 3:09
- 8 Can't You Hear Me Callin' 4:10
- 9 Letter From My Darling 3:34
- 10 Sittin' Alone In The Moonlight 3:19
- 11 Big Mon 3:02
- 12 Get Down On Your Knees And Pray 3:15
- 13 Used To Be 2:05
- 14 Scotland 3:11
- 15 Travelin' This Lonesome Road 3:04
- 16 Heavy Traffic Ahead 2:28
- 17 Little Cabin Home on the Hill 3:49