Bluegrass

1	Mighty Lonesome 2:38
2	Time's a Looking Glass 2:25
3	I'm Still Living for You 3:15
4	I Shouldn't Want You So Bad 2:56
5	Who's Leaving Who 3:12
6	Forever Ends Today 3:38
7	Love in the Ruins 2:50
8	There Goes Bessie Brown 4:01
9	It Wan't That I Had To 2:30
10	It's So Different 4:36
11	My Treasure 2:46
12	Don't Blame the Wrong Guy 2:55
13	Where They Turn Around 2:51

Barnes & Noble

One of the most reliable songwriters in the land (reliable, that is, for a tart melody and a smart lyric), Jim Lauderdale returns full bore to Bluegrass. While this long-player does not hit the impossible metaphysical highs of his celebrated collaborations with Ralph Stanley (1999's I Feel Like Singing Today and 2002's Grammy-winning Lost in the Pines), it's still a winning and frequently stirring exercise in the traditional style. For the most part, the songs are centered on love and its disintegrations, although some lovely shards of new light cut through here and there. With Bryan Sutton on lead guitar, Jason Stewart and David Talbot sharing banjo duties, Randy Korhs making dobro exclamations throughout, and multiple first-call mandolin and fiddle players, Lauderdale's instrumental support is impeccably nuanced: They limn the dark shadows suggested by the obsession Lauderdale admits to in a minor-key heart-tugger, "I Shouldn't Want You So Bad," and step it up and go when necessary, most impressively on a tersely articulated plea in "Don't Blame the Wrong Guy." Lauderdale, who wrote or co-wrote all the tunes, collaborates with Buddy Miller on one of his most affecting efforts to date, "Love in the Ruins," a mid-tempo tear-jerker that blurs the line between honky-tonk and bluegrass in a number that sounds tailor-made for Buck Owens in another time, another place. David McGee

All Music Guide

Jim Lauderdale is both eclectic and prolific, working steadfastly within the Americana/ roots field, recording and releasing a slew of projects with everyone from bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley to jam band Donna the Buffalo. In his latest incarnation, he has simultaneously released two projects, one, Country Super Hits, Vol. 1, delving into classic honky tonk, the other, Bluegrass, delving deeply into country music's most rustic subgenre. One might guess that with a title like Bluegrass Lauderdale intends to reinterpret the classics from yesteryear, but that isn't the case. Instead, he has written and co-written new songs within the tradition. As his former project with Stanley (I Feel Like Singing Today) suggests, Lauderdale is drawn to traditional bluegrass, though his song structures, as with "I Shouldn't Want You So Bad," expand beyond the genre's conservative past. The acoustic guitar, dobro, mandolin, banjo, and fiddle arrangements, and Lauderdale's country-flavored vocals, reinforce the rootsy sound. The solid harmony (nicely done on "Who's Leaving Who") is icing on this old-fashioned cake. The downside to the collection is that there is already a great deal of bluegrass on the market, and while it's always fun to hear an outsider's take on the genre, it's hard for Lauderdale to match the vocals of a singer like Karl Shiftlett or put together a band as hot as Del McCoury's. In other words, as good as these songs sound, they add very little to the tradition. But alternative country fans will appreciate Lauderdale's refresher course on Bluegrass, nonetheless, and more than likely want to pick up the Country Super Hits, Vol. 1 collection too. Ronnie D. Lankford Jr.