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THE GILLIS BROTHERS - HEART & SOUL (REB-1720), 1995

Musicians
John Gillis: Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocals
Larry Gillis: Banjo, Lead Guitar, Lead & Tenor Vocals
Glen Duncan: Fiddle(s)
Robin Smith: Bass

Production Credits
Produced by The Gillis Brothers
Recorded at Hilltop Recording Studios, Madison, TN
Engineered by John Nicholson
Recorded: January 28, 1995
Mastered by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering, Springfield, VA

Original liner notes:
Having signed with Rebel Records for a new Gillis Brothers album and working against an impending deadline, Larry and John Gillis arrived at my house late on a winter afternoon. The recording session was scheduled to begin the following morning.

As the Gillis Brothers, their special guests (renowned session fiddler Glen Duncan and top-flight bassist Robin Smith) and the engineer set about their business, an aura of mutual respect and excitement began to build and the music just got better: real bluegrass music; duet singing blended perfectly to bring out the hard tenor sound with the full-bodied acoustic power of the guitar, banjo, string bass and fiddle.

The art of singing and playing the bluesy, pulsating 1950's bluegrass is not an acquired skill but rather something that is inbred and from the soul. The often misunderstood terms "raw edge" and "slurring your notes" refer to the punch style pickin' and the rolling off of fiddle notes, often while noting two strings with the same finger. Rather than being a flaw in playing, it is a special skill and denotes the rare good taste that makes this music vigorous and stimulating as opposed to bland imitations that are frequently passed off as "bluegrass".
This is the Gillis Brothers first self-produced project and their first to be recorded in Nashville. It is far and away their best to date. Suffice to say that if your musical taste runs to "I don't care for bluegrass but I do like so and so" then this album isn't for you.

If, on the other hand, you are a real bluegrass fan then you'll enjoy listening to this many, many times until it eventually goes wherever good CDs and cassette tapes go after hundreds of plays.

-Lance LeRoy, 1995