Appalachian Express

The band’s first album on record, Quiet Grave (1982), was a private pressing with Cindy West singing alongside Clyde Bailey on banjo, Bobby Thompson on guitar and Ricky Slaughter on mandolin, all three also singing, with Earl West on bass and Harold Jones on fiddle. By Old Old House (Atteiram, 1986) Vernon Hughes had taken over the mandolin and shared the lead singing with Cindy West, while Bailey and Earl West sang harmony parts.

For Rebel the lineup was Cindy West, Bailey on banjo and guitar, Thompson on guitar, Hughes on mandolin, Jim Skelding on fiddle and Earl West on bass. I’ll Meet You in the Morning (Rebel 1664, 1988), recorded at Bias Recording in Springfield, Virginia, drew on gospel songs by Jim & Jesse, Carter Stanley, Reno and Smiley, the Louvin Brothers and Albert E. Brumley, whose song gave the album its title, and Kenneth Tuttle’s “Lord Lead Me On.” Express Tracks (Rebel 1674) followed in 1989 and Walking the Blues (Rebel 1684) in 1990, with Cindy West and Hughes again singing lead.

The band stopped touring in 1992. After some years off it began performing again, and in 2018 it was made up of Cindy West, Earl West on bass, Thompson on guitar and lead vocals, Bailey on banjo and Tim Peade on mandolin.