Biography

Blue Highway
Some Day: The Fifteenth Anniversary Collection
Rounder 11661-0633-2


1. Cold and Lowdown Lonesome Blues 3:54
2. Through the Window of a Train 3:05
3. Bleeding for a Little Peace of Mind 5:16
4. Monrobro 3:09
5. Some Day 1:57
6. Still Climbing Mountains 3:37
7. The Seventh Angel 4:07
8. Elzic’s Farewell 3:09
9. Sycamore Hollow 4:11
10. Seven Sundays in a Row 3:34
11. Wild Urge to Ramble 2:54
12. Marbletown3:29
13. Wondrous Love 3:24

p & © 2009 Rounder Records Corp. One Rounder Way, Burlington MA 01803 USA.
www.rounder.com info@rounder.com
Manufactured in the USA. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.


1. Cold and Lowdown Lonesome Blues (Shawn Lane, Cat Town Music, BMI)

2. Through the Window of a Train (Tim Stafford-Steve Gulley/Daniel House Music, BMI-Gulley's Curve Music, BMI)

3. Bleeding for a Little Peace of Mind (Tim Stafford-Darrell Scott, Daniel House Music, BMI-I Imagine Music, ASCAP)

4. Monrobro (Rob Ickes-Aubrey Haynie/Sackett's Ride Music, BMI-Aubreyland Music, BMI)

5. Some Day (Words, Olive Stockton-Music, Tim Stafford/Daniel House Music, BMI)

6. Still Climbing Mountains (Tim Stafford-Shawn Lane/Daniel House Music, BMI-Cat Town Music, BMI)

7. The Seventh Angel (Shawn Lane/Cat Town Music, BMI)

8. Elzic’s Farewell (Trad., Arr. Rob Ickes/Sacett’s Ride Music-BMI)

9. Sycamore Hollow (Shawn Lane-Gerald Ellenburg/Cat Town Music, BMI-Wadako Publishing, BMI)

10. Seven Sundays in a Row (Wayne Taylor-Kim Williams-Larry Shell/ Forty WAT Music, BMI-Americana Entertainment Publishing, BMI-A Toad in Cowboy Clothes Music, BMI-Kim Williams Enterprises, ASCAP-Sony Cross Keys, ASCAP)

11. Wild Urge to Ramble (Shawn Lane/Cat Town Music, BMI)

12. Marbletown (Mark Knopfler/Almo Music Corporation, ASCAP)

13. Wondrous Love (trad., arr. Tim Stafford-Shawn Lane-Wayne Taylor-Rob Ickes-Jason Burleson/Daniel House Music, BMI-Cat Town Music, BMI-Forty WAT Music, BMI-Sackett's Ride Music-BMI, Terrible Twos Music-BMI)



Blue Highway
Tim Stafford guitar, vocals
Wayne Taylor bass, vocals
Shawn Lane mandolin, guitar, fiddle, vocals
Rob Ickes Dobro, Scheerhorn Acoustic Slide Guitar, vocals
Jason Burleson banjo, guitar, mandolin, vocals

Guests: Alison Krauss (vocals, Seventh Angel)
Sonja Isaacs (vocals, Seven Sundays in a Row)
Alan O'Bryant (vocals, Wondrous Love)
Darrell Scott (Guitar and Vocals, Bleeding for a Little Peace of Mind)
Darrell Scott appears courtesy of Full Light Records.
Sonya Isaacs appears courtesy of Lyric Street Records
Alan O'Bryant appears courtesy of Sugar Hill Records



If you didn’t know anything about Bluegrass music, its traditions, its roots, or its modern influences, I would tell you to go buy this record, it’ll tell you all you need to know. As it is, my Bluegrass Pedigree is like Swiss Cheese, with some big holes in it. I must admit it was a little daunting to be asked to write these liner notes. And then I heard the record, and I realized what a blessed woman I am.

The sheer amount of musical ground covered here boggles the mind. First of all, this is the same lineup that started this band a decade and a half ago (no small feat, folks). Each one is extraordinary, and they sing and play together like the family they are, after 15 years of recording and touring together. This album is a celebration of that musical, mystical synergy, and it passed my acid test for a “stand-the-test-of-time” record: I was alternately yanked, dragged, gently led, pushed, cajoled, and carried through these 13 tracks, and I was left emotionally both spent and exuberant at the end. It is simply a thrilling collection of performances.

The overall theme running through this collection is, for me, “Taste.” The lyrics cover classic themes, the vocals are deeply rooted in the lyrics, there are virtuoso performances, but with a wonderful lack of ego, and a spirit of celebration. The playing is clean, but not cerebral in the least: the soul is all there.

The CD is a collection of the best of their Rounder recordings, one cut from Rob Ickes’ solo album, and 3 new selections. It kicks off with a stark mandolin and Shawn Lane’s plaintive vocal. This is the first of the new tracks, “Cold and Lowdown Lonesome Blues.” The band joins in with a deep groove. This is Bluegrass at its best, almost celebrating the blues, if that’s possible. When Shawn sings “You ran around and became another’s bride,” you hear not only the anguish, but that fierce righteousness of the Appalachian people.

We’re led next into “Through the Window of a Train,” Tim Stafford’s classic, award-winning hit song, co-written with Steve Gulley. He captures perfectly that phenomenon that makes the world look different when we get off the main roads, and I am reminded how different this country looks to those whose well-traveled paths are via railroad tracks or waterways. After the high lonesome vocal on the opening cut, the segue into Wayne Taylor’s warm, nostalgic storytelling is a nice contrast.

The third cut is another new offering, a dark and compelling song beautifully penned by Tim and multi-genre phenom Darrell Scott, with Darrell taking a guest vocal. He has the perfect combination of edge and vulnerability. When he says “I’m bleeding for a little peace of mind,” you feel his abject loneliness, and that he’s not singing to us, we are peeking into his world, his quiet anguish.

The play-out here is wonderful. You can feel the joy (even in the pain) of the musicians dancing with each other. I love it when we are generously invited to savor all the little extras, the times when a track is allowed to play out and we get to hear the musicians riffing with each other for the sheer joy of it.

The unrestrained, virtuosic “Monrobro” provides a perfect release from the tension and intensity of the previous track. Rob Ickes’ searing dobro is the center point here, but the instrumental talent is well-dispersed in this band. I could NOT stop moving! And by this point, I’m thinking “Whoa, how much talent can be squeezed into five guys?”

And then they strip everything back with another new recording, the beautiful, pristine a cappella gospel of “Some Day,” a simple affirmation of the Big Mystery of the doorway between death and what comes after.

This takes us into “Still Climbing Mountains,” a lovely, mid-tempo song about the ebb and flow of the earthly side of this life, and one person’s astonishment at his resiliency and the depth of his own heart.

By this point I am beginning to realize what a journey this record is. Each new cut is refreshing, engaging, and completely different from the one before. I can’t wait to hear what comes next.

I am rewarded with the haunting, stunning, “Seventh Angel,” with its mysterious lyric from the Book of Revelation. Alison Krauss lends her ethereal vocals in a guest spot, and her singing is a wonder. The introduction of gentle percussion anchors the tension of the swirling track, and I am transported.

Mercifully, we are given a lift here, with a mountain-flavored instrumental from “Big Time,” Rob Ickes’ solo album, entitled “Elzic’s Farewell.” The unison signature lick on dobro, joined by the banjo, harken back to the old-time roots of bluegrass, and the repetition gives my listening brain a rest. There’s just enough raw highland energy here, but again, the playing is syncopated, clean and tasty. Jason Burleson’s banjo walks a perfect line between a clawhammer feel and a more modern, Scruggs-style interpretation.

The old-time theme continues with a soulful, bluesy resonator lick that takes us into the quintessential Appalachian civil war story, “Sycamore Holler.” A personal window into life during the Civil War, it’s a movie in song form, a song of great love.

Next is another, more intimate story song about the fragility of redemption, with the subtle gospel theme of “Seven Sundays in a Row.” Here we have the beautiful juxtaposition of Sonya Isaac’s clear, pure vocal harmonies with Wayne’s down-to earth, conversational storytelling. By the end of the song, we are all silently rooting for Billy Sparks, and the “little part of him inside us all.”

The introspective moment is followed by “Wild Urge to Ramble,” a song of regret and redemption. It’s a classic theme: boy meets girl, boy gives up wild ways to get girl, backslides and loses girl, flogs himself for colossal mistake, hits his knees and is forgiven and led to new life.

Then one by one, over a subtle, chugging acoustic guitar, the mandolin and banjo fade in, and join with the dobro to lead us careening into Marbletown, the Mark Knopfler-penned cooker, punctuated by a catchy instrumental hook, and the thrilling vocal stop “We got a man down here, we got a man down.” All the hair on the back of my neck stood up. The arrangement of this track is simply brilliant.

And finally, my favorite Blue Highway cut of all, the Sacred Harp gem “Wondrous Love.” Alan O’Bryant joins in seamlessly, and I am left wanting to press “repeat” and just immerse myself in the sheer beauty and ancient pull of these achingly beautiful harmonies. I especially love the last round, where the listener gets a tiny glimpse into the thrill and energy of Sacred Harp singing when it’s done well.

This album has quickly made its way onto my list of all-time favorite records, in any genre. The sense I have at the end of this excellent collection is of a group that is evolving together, pushing and inspiring each other, and just scratching the surface of the legacy they will leave for all of us to enjoy.

I can’t wait for the next 15 years!

- Kathy Mattea






Blue Highway uses and endorses D’Addario Strings (www.Daddario.com) and Blue Chip Picks.

Booking:
www.bluehighwayband.com


Blue Highway would like to thank: Daniel, Trish, Jen, Janelle, Neal, Sherry Taylor, Alexander Finglass, Lacy Moraes, Freda Taylor, Eugene Taylor, Ralph Steele, Gracie, Grayson, Garrett, Butch & Kathy Lane, Tom & Jane Burch, Shelly, Jacob, Shannon, Bernice Stafford, Carla and Don Clifft, Colleen and Steve Goins, Verda Burleson, Charlie Burleson, Alex Burleson,The Vissages, The Lawsons, The Burch Family, Bobby Starnes, Composite Acoustics Guitars, D'Addario strings, Betty Wheeler, Virginia Lawrence, Alan and Charlie Maggard, Jim Price, Kathy Mattea, Darrell Scott, Scott Rouse, Jerry Douglas, Alan O'Bryant, Keith Case and Associates, Randy Pitts, Jason Duke and the folks at Ciphertek, Acutab Publications, Dan Miller, John Lawless, FGM Records, Brance Gillihan, The Bluegrass Blog, Bill Stokes, Tim Keen, Tim Scheerhorn, Abe Wechter, Rick Huschka, Tim Carter, John Lawless, Matt Blackett, Sam Bush, Jennifer Murphy, Tony Rice, Terry and Cindy Baucom, Kathy Davis, Bill Bowman, Bruce King, Ron Phillips, Mary and Rondal Peters, Kenny Johnson, Big Al Johnson, Darin Aldridge,Tony Wray, Adam Steffey, Barry Bales, Phil Leadbetter, Alan Bibey, Steve Gulley, Scott Vestal, Ben Surratt, Missy Raines, The Burleson Family,Emily Everett, Libby and Barry Bailey, Perry Woodie, Mike Street, The Imfamous Stringdusters, The Shuffler Family, Steve Huber and Team Flathead, Bryan Dunnaway, Red Barnes and "Scooter," Billy Sparks and Mary Johnson, Kim Williams, Larry Shell, John and Shirley Sutherland, Larry Hicks, Chris & Kathy Brady, Ronnie & Garnett Bowman, Chad & Farah Lane, Ray Dearstone, Ricky Skaggs, Allen Hicks, Tommy Holder, Gerald & Kathy Ellenburg, The Waltons, Jimmy Stewart, Buddy Brock, Bob Minner, Blue Chip Picks

Special thanks to all the loyal Blue Highway fans that have supported us for the last 15 plus years.

A special thank you in memory of Dallas Taylor and Margaret Steele "I wish you could have been here."

Tim plays Composite Acoustics Guitars
His instructional books, videos and the Tim Stafford model Composite Acoustic guitar are available at www.tim-stafford.com

Rob Plays Scheerhorn Resonator Guitars, Cobalt BP Fingerpicks, D'addario Strings, Shertler Pickups, Ultrasounds Amps, His instructional books, videos, and the Rob Ickes Model Wechter Scheerhorn Resonator Guitar are available at www.robickes.com.

Shawn plays Dearstone, Gibson, Whaley and Hicks mandolins and Composite Acoustics and Hicks guitars
The "Shawn Lane" signature model Dearstone Mandolin is available at www.dearstone.com

Jason plays Gibson and Huber banjos, Gibson and Dearstone mandolins and Hicks and Composite Acoustics guitars

Wayne plays Kay and Clevenger basses

Compilation mastered by Bill Wolf (www.wolfproductionsinc.com)

Cover photo: Scott Simontacchi
(CREDITS FOR PHOTOS)
Photo of Blue Highway's first performance: "Photo courtesy of Jason Burleson"
Photo with Darrell Scott: "Photo credit: Jim Price"
Photo from the Country Festival: "Photo credit: Lily Pavlak"
Photo from Down Home: "Photo credit: Roy Mayes"

Design



Credits:

Cold and Lowdown Lonesome Blues
Bleeding for a Little Peace of Mind
Some Day

Produced by Blue Highway
Recorded at Maggard Sound Studio, Big Stone Gap, VA, March 2009
Jim Price, engineer
Alan Maggard, 2nd engineer
Mixed by Jim Price and Blue Highway
Mastered by Bill Wolf

Still Climbing Mountains
The Seventh Angel
Monrobro

From Still Climbing Mountains, Rounder 11661-0489-2, 2001.
Produced by Jerry Douglas
Recorded at Dark Horse Studios, Franklin, TN
Engineer: Gary Paczosa
2nd engineer: Brian and Bobby
Mixed at 17 Grand Studios by Jerry Douglas, Gary Paczosa and Blue Highway
Mastered by: Masterfonics, Nashville, TN

Wondrous Love
Seven Sundays in a Row

From Wondrous Love, Rounder 11661-0524-2, 2003
Produced by Alan O’Bryant
Recorded at Dark Horse Studios, Franklin, TN
Engineer: Brent King; additional engineering by Tim Roberts
Assistant: Michael Modeston
Mixed at Dark Horse by Brent King, Alan O’Bryant and Blue Highway
Mastere by Hank Williams, Mastermix, Nashville, TN

Marbletown
Wild Urge to Ramble

From Marbletown, Rounder 11661-0558-2, 2005.
Produced by Scott Rouse and Blue Highway
Engineered by Gary Paczosa
Recorded at Omni Studios, Minutia Sound & The GrooveGrass Factory, Nashville, TN
Mixed by Gary Paczosa
Second Engineer: Brandon Bell
Assistant Engineers: Skunk and Lex Wax
Production Assistant: Thud Rippington
Mastered by Don Cobb & Eric Conn at Independent Mastering, Nashville, TN


Through the Window of a Train
Sycamore Hollow

From Through the Window of a Train, Rounder 11661-0594-2, 2008.
Produced by Blue Highway
Engineered by Jim Price
Engineer Assistant: Alan Maggard
Recorded at Maggard Sound, Big Stone Gap, VA
Tony Creasman overdub at Crossroads Studios, Arden, NC, engineered by Van Atkins
Mixed by Jim Price
Mastered By Bill Wolf

Elzic’s Farewell

From Big Time, Rounder 11661-0538-2, 2004
Produced by Rob Ickes
Recorded at Skaggs’ Place Studio, Hendersonville, TN
Recorded and mixed by Brent King
Assistant Engineer: Lee Groitsch
Mastered by Hank Williams at Mastermix, Nashville, TN


Also available:
Rounder 11661-0489-2 Still Climbing Mountains
Rounder 11661-0524-2 Wondrous Love
Rounder 11661-0538-2 Big Time (Rob Ickes with Blue Highway)
Rounder 11661-0558-2 Marbletown
Rounder 11661-0594-2 Through the Window of a Train
Rounder 11661-0633-2
p & © 2009 Rounder Records Corp.
Manufactured in the USA.
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LYRICS
1. Cold and Lowdown Lonesome Blues (Shawn Lane, Cat Town Music, BMI)

I never felt this way before you left me
And the memories I just can 't erase
I need to wonder out and just start living
But a broken heart has kept me in this place
Repeat

I notice all the shadows in this cabin
The light of day is fading into night
It fills the room with loneliness and sorrow
I miss the way you once held me tight
Repeat

I got no word of why you even left me
I often sit alone and wonder why
You stole my heart away and left me lonely
And now I hang my head to cry
Repeat

I offered my love but you re not willing
Now I wonder why I even tried
Walking round lonesome ever after
You ran around and became another s bride
Repeat

There s no fire left here in my life now
The water freezing right here in this room
You took the warmth away when you left me
It 's a shame what a cold heart can do
Repeat

I call you up one last time to tell you
bout all the pain that I m living through
You tell me you don 't want to hear my troubles
Or my cold and lowdown lonesome blues
Repeat


2. Through the Window of a Train (Tim Stafford-Steve Gulley/Daniel House Music, BMI-Gulley's Curve Music, BMI)

V1) Everybody drives the same old roads these days
Don’t see a thing, but they know the way
Every miles a marker, every town’s the same
Another place to stop but not to stay

V2) Daddy was a brakeman on the L&N
Sometimes he’d let me ride along with him
No matter where we’d stop along the way
Everybody knew his name

Ch) A different story down every line
People workin’ hard just to live and die
I saw it all once upon a time
Through the window of a train

V3) Then we started back the way we came
Like people moving through a picture frame
Seems the whole world’s further down the track
But I’m always looking back

V4) I don’t expect you all to understand
Or see the country like a railroad man
So many things you’d never realize
Unless you saw ‘em with these eyes

Ch) Birmingham to Jackson, hear the whistle call
And the sun goes down like a big red ball
In my memory I still see it all
Through the window of a train

© 2006 Daniel House Music, BMI
© 2006 Mountain Heart Music, BMI

3. Bleeding for a Little Peace of Mind (Tim Stafford-Darrell Scott, Daniel House Music, BMI-I Imagine Music, ASCAP)

1) The Sun is slowly fading oe'r the hill just like it has and like it always will
I see the pictures scattered on the floor
This place don't make sense to me no more
The summer nights are turning into Fall
And I have turned the clock face to the wall
It really doesn't matter much at all
Cause every day's the same

CH) Now I'm bleeding for a little peace of mind
I'd like to leave this loneliness behind
But somehow I'm afraid that I will find
there's no bottom anymore
I've gone about as far as I can go
And there's no turning back, this much I know
Lord I'm bleeding for a little peace of mind

2) I don't remember good times as a child, just Momma's tears and a Father's crooked smile
And a lot of silent crying in the night and nobody cared
Now that all seems like a million miles away
and the sky is just another shade of gray
I'm fighting hard to find myself today
--I'd be happy to be sad

Now I'd like to leave this loneliness behind
Lord I'm beggin' of you please show me a sign
Cause I'm bleeding, bleeding for a little peace of mind

© 2009 Daniel House Music, BMI
© 2009 I Imagine Music, ASCAP

5. Some Day (Words, Olive Stockton-Music, Tim Stafford/Daniel House Music, BMI)

Some day when my last line is written
Some day when I’ve drawn my last breath
When my last words on earth have been spoken
And my lips are sealed in death:

Don’t look on my cold form in pity
Don’t think of me as one dead
It will just be the house I once lived in
My spirit by then will have fled

I’ll have finished my time here allotted
But I won’t be in darkness alone
I will have heard from heaven
The summons to come on home

And when my body is in the grave
Don’t think that I’ll be there
I won’t be dead, but living
In the place Jesus went to prepare

And after all is said and done
Know that my last earnest prayer
Was that my loved ones be ready
Some day to meet me there

© Daniel House Music, BMI, 1998

6. Marbletown (Mark Knopfler/Almo Music Corporation, ASCAP)

Roll out here mister
If you need a lttle rest
Lay me down in marbletown
A bone yard is the best

There was a bad bull on the railroad
Tried to put me off his train
Lay me down in marbletown
'Til the coast is clear again

I can hear them a- hollerin'
'We got a man down here
We got a man down'

I'm gonna flip me a cannonball
That won't stop for anyone
Lay me down in marbletown
Wait 'til morning comes

I'm gonna roll out here in the tombstones
Wait here on my train
Lay me down in marbletown
I hope that it don't rain

And I can still hear them hollerin
''We got a man down here
We got a man down'

Roll out here mister
If you need a little rest
Lay me down in marbletown
A bone yard is the best

7. The Seventh Angel (Shawn Lane/Cat Town Music, BMI)

V1) I am the lamb of God, the seven seals are in my hand
I sit beside the father, Lord and ruler over all the land
The mysteries of heaven have all been revealed to me
The time is drawing near at hand for the seventh angel all the world to see

CH) With one foot on the land and one on the sea
He’ll swear with his hand raised high
Time no longer can be

V2) I am the seventh angel, the time is near for me to fly
I’ll come before the father, the one who will be seen by every eye
There’ll be silence in heaven before the seven trumpets sound
Then music like thunder right before the time that I come down

Ch) With one foot on the land and one on the sea
I’ll swear with my hand raised high
Time no longer can be

© 2001 Cat Town Music

8. Wild Urge to Ramble (Shawn Lane/Cat Town Music, BMI)
V1) I started on my wild urge to ramble
I stepped on hearts like pavement on the streets
I treated women just like chips to gamble
and it didn’t bother me to watch ‘em leave


V2) But I knew there was something different about her
the first time that she ever spoke my name
her warm red lips erased all the others
she kissed me and completely changed the game


CH) Right then I felt the whole earth a shakin’
like a big ole tree had just hit the ground
like a train a leavin’ and it ain’t a brakin’
and there’s nothing in this world can stop it now


V3) But I fell back in my wild urge to ramble
and it didn’t take too long till she caught on
in 14 minutes my world came unraveled
cause that’s how long it took her to get gone


CH) Right then I felt the whole earth a shakin’
like a big ole tree had just hit the ground
like a train a leavin’ and it ain’t a brakin’
and there’s nothing in this world can stop it now


V) My life was useless without her
I’d lost the only thing I’d ever loved
I fell on my knees and cried to the Father
God please forgive me I have strayed enough


CH) Right then I felt the whole earth a shakin’
like a big ole tree had just hit the ground
like a train a leavin’ and it ain’t a brakin’
and there’s nothing in this world can stop it now


© 2005 Cat Town Music (BMI)

9. Seven Sundays in a Row (Wayne Taylor-Kim Williams-Larry Shell/ Forty WAT Music, BMI-Americana Entertainment Publishing, BMI-A Toad in Cowboy Clothes Music, BMI-Kim Williams Enterprises, ASCAP-Sony Cross Keys, ASCAP)

Verse 1
Billy was a fightin', drinkin' man
the Devil never had a better friend
Mary Johnson was an angel, bless her heart
We all cried when she fell for Billy Sparks
Verse 2
She found a man that no one knew was there
All it took was two wings and a prayer
Mary Johnson is a saint heaven knows
She's proved it seven Sundays in a row
Cho
Seven Sundays in a row he's been in church
Alittle hard to recognize in his tie and starched white shirt
There's a battle raging in his troubled soul
But God's won seven Sundays in a row
Verse 3
Sometimes we all stumble and we fall
There's a little Billy Sparks inside us all
But as long as we believe there's always hope
For more than seven Sundays in a row
Cho
Tag
There's a battle raging in his troubled soul
But God's won seven Sundays in a row
© 2003 Forty WAT Music, BMI
© 2003 Americana Entertainment Publishing, BMI
© 2003 A Toad in Cowboy Clothes Music, BMI
© 2003 Kim Williams Enterprises, ASCAP
© 2003 Sony Cross Keys, ASCAP

10. Still Climbing Mountains (Tim Stafford-Shawn Lane/Daniel House Music, BMI-Cat Town Music, BMI)

1) I really thought this time, it’d be an easy hill to climb
But nothing is as easy as it seems
Wish I could stand the heights, just enjoy the sights
But there’s always someplace else I want to see

CH) I’ve been up and down so many times who’s counting
And even after falling down from you
I’m still climbing mountains

2) It’s another Friday night, the city lights are bright
You’d think for once that I’d resist the call
It carries me away, but always fails to say
“Remember just how much it hurts to fall?”


Br) Sometimes I wonder why I keep on trying
to fly away from what I really need
And I know I’ll never make it back to heaven
Guess I’d stand a better chance if I had wings

CH) I’ve been up and down so much now I’ve quit counting
And even after falling every time
I’m still climbing mountains

© Daniel House Music, 1999
© Cat Town Music, 1999

11. Sycamore Hollow (Shawn Lane-Gerald Ellenburg/Cat Town Music, BMI-Wadako Publishing, BMI)

1) It was down by the forked stream
Out in sycamore holler
I went down in my best of dress
To take her from her father

2) With hair down to her waist
The color of strawberries
Down by the forked stream
By night fall we should marry

Ch) I sure love the farmer’s daughter
Down in sycamore holler

3) On a horse seventeen hands high
He rode in Sherman’s army
To Atlanta town against her will
He took my woman from me

4) Well I grabbed my knife and both of my guns
In a loud voice I did call her
On a lightning horse I swore once more
As I left sycamore holler

Ch) I will bring the farmer’s daughter
Back to sycamore holler

5) Down by the river’s edge
I see the campfire ****
Four dead men lay behind as I leave that campsite with her

6) Now our children play in a forked stream
Out in sycamore holler
With a boy like me and a girl like her
We’ll always be together

Chorus: I sure love the farmer’s daughter
Down in sycamore holler


Shawn—Lead guitar, rhythm
Tim—rhythm guitar
Jason—mandolin
Rob—Scheerhorn acoustic slide guitar


© 2007 Cat Town Music, BMI
© 2007 Wadako Publishing, BMI

12. Wondrous Love (trad., arr. Tim Stafford-Shawn Lane-Wayne Taylor-Rob Ickes-Jason Burleson/Daniel House Music, BMI-Cat Town Music, BMI-Forty WAT Music, BMI-Sackett's Ride Music-BMI, Terrible Twos Music-BMI)

1) What wondrous Love is this, oh my soul, oh my soul
What wondrous Love is this, oh my soul
What wondrous Love is this that caused the Lord of Bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul


2) When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down
When I was sinking down, sinking down
When I was seeking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul

3) And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on
And through eternity I’ll sing on
© 2003 Daniel House Music, BMI
© 2003 Fort WAT Music, BMI
© 2003 Cat Town Music, BMI
© 2003 Terrible Twos Music, BMI
© 2003 Sackett's Ride Music, BMI

Awards:

IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards
• Song of the Year (2008-Through the Window of a Train)
• Gospel Recording of the Year (2004-Wondrous Love; 1997-God Moves in a Windstorm)
• Emerging Artist of the Year (1996)
• IBMA Album of the Year Award (1996-It's a Long, Long Road; 2006, Celebration of Life: Musicians Against Childhood Cancer)
• Dobro Player of the Year (Rob Ickes) (2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996)
Dove Award
• Best Bluegrass Album (2004-Wondrous Love)
Grammy Nominations
• Best Bluegrass Album (2005-Marbletown)
• Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album (2004-Wondrous Love)
SPBGMA Awards
• Gospel Group of the Year (Overall) (2005)
• Instrumental Group of the Year (2003)
• Dobro Performer of the Year (Rob Ickes) (2003)
• Bass Performer of the Year (Wayne Taylor) (2001)
• Guitar Performer of the Year (Tim Stafford) (2001)