"We Like Jim & Jesse!" (Wild Geranium Records, 2026) is a tribute album from guitarist and vocalist Michael Daves and mandolinist Jacob Jolliff, honoring the Virginia duo Jim & Jesse McReynolds with a program drawn from their recorded catalog. Daves plays guitar and sings; Jolliff plays mandolin and sings, the duo mirroring the guitar-mandolin pairing and close-harmony vocal architecture that defined Jim & Jesse through their long career. Daves, a Grammy-nominated flatpicker, was inspired by a 2019 interview with Jesse McReynolds to explore the duo's repertoire in depth, surfacing both celebrated standards and obscure recordings. Jolliff, a National Mandolin Champion, brings the harmonic precision and improvisational range associated with Jesse McReynolds' split-string crosspicking technique. The result is a homage rooted in close study of the original recordings and the two performers' deep grounding in the bluegrass guitar-mandolin tradition.
Tracklist
- 1 Just Wondering Why 4:03
- 2 Stoney Creek 2:33
- 3 Nobody But You alt version 2:09
- 4 It's a Long Way to the Top of the World 3:47
- 5 Are You Missing Me alt version 2:48
- 6 Let Me Whisper Source Recording 2:23
- 7 El Cumbanchero alt version 2:49
- 8 You Are the One alt version 1:57
- 9 Stormy Horizons alt version 2:38
- 10 Golden Rocket 3:18
