CLINCH MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

Few country artists, among them Hank Williams, Bill Monroe, and the Louvin Brothers, have amassed such an impressive body of work as Ralph Stanley. On this simply amazing two-CD set, Stanley mines his musical legacy by inviting current country and bluegrass artists to record with his band in the studio, and a veritable who's-who jump at the opportunity. Dwight Yoakam, Laurie Lewis, Jim Lauderdale, Gillian Welch, BR5-49, Bob Dylan, and sundry others join the legendary claw-hammer banjo picker and rip through the Stanley Brothers songbook, prompting country troubadour Hal Ketchum to say, "Singing with Ralph Stanley is like painting with Picasso." --Tod Nelson