Up in the High Country (Hay Holler HH-CD 1340, 1998) is a recording from Big Country Bluegrass, the southwest Virginia traditional bluegrass band founded by Tommy and Teresa Sells in 1987. The lineup here — Alan Mastin, Jeff Michael, Larry Pennington, and the Sells siblings — is the ensemble characteristic of the band's Hay Holler-era configuration from the late 1990s. The title's "high country" reference signals both the band's Appalachian geographic roots and the elevated, keening quality of traditional bluegrass singing. Big Country Bluegrass maintained a consistent regional presence in the southwest Virginia and broader Appalachian bluegrass circuit since its founding, and Up in the High Country represents their approach in its most characteristic form: unadorned traditional acoustic music performed with the conviction of musicians who believe in the style rather than simply reproduce it for audience approval.
Tracklist
- 1 Up in the High Country 2:13
- 2 Coal Mining Man alt version 3:40
- 3 Lone Grave On the Hill 3:09
- 4 Charlotte Breakdown 2:17
- 5 There Ain't No Sun Shining in My World 3:34
- 6 Dreaming of the Hills 2:23
- 7 Traveling Blues 2:54
- 8 He Gave His Life 2:26
- 9 Why Must You Leave 3:00
- 10 A Lonesome Road to Travel alt version 3:32
- 11 Saturday Night At the Hoedown 2:32
- 12 Reeves Waltz 2:45
- 13 I'm Going Back to Carolina 2:46
- 14 I'd Face It Like a Man 3:10
- 15 Gonna Wash My Hands 2:21