Biography

Radio Contact:
Ellen Nagase
434-973-5151
radio@rebelrecords.com

Click here to go to Rebel Records' Main Page

MICKEY GALYEAN & CULLEN'S BRIDGE - SONGS FROM THE BLUE RIDGE (REB-1866), 2018

Musicians
Mickey Galyean: Guitar, Lead Vocals
Rick Pardue: Banjo, Tenor Vocals
Brad Hiatt: Bass, Baritone Vocals
Billy Hawks: Fiddle

Production Credits
Produced by Mickey Galyean & Cullen's Bridge
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Wes Easter at Eastwood Studio, Cana, VA

Unapologetic bluegrass is what Mickey Galyean & Cullen’s Bridge deliver. Pounding rhythms, searing vocals, strong melodies, and just the right mix of deft originals and ripened treasures; that’s the formula that works for this group. Emanating from the bluegrass heartland between Galax, Virginia, and Mt. Airy, North Carolina – Round Peak to “those in the know” – they are bearers of a tradition that has thrived there for generations.

Band leader Mickey Galyean grew up in bluegrass. His late father Cullen (hence the name, Cullen’s Bridge) was a lifelong picker. The band’s name is a perpetual tribute to him as well as a statement on its musical philosophy. Mickey is a strong singer who sports a driving rhythm guitar; he sets the tone for the band. Holding forth on banjo is Rick Pardue, a North Carolinian with a penchant for songwriting; he had the 2012 IBMA Song of the Year and is a past winner of the MerleFest/Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. Bass player Brad Hiatt sets the tempo the band’s performances; his instrument of choice once belonged to famed Flatt & Scruggs picker Cousin Jake Tullock. Billy Hawks adds soulful melodies with his flowing fiddle; he’s logged time with Doyle Lawson and Rebel artists Big Country Bluegrass and Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice.

Hot on the heels of their Rebel debut My Daddy’s Grass – which topped Bluegrass Unlimited’s “National Bluegrass Survey” – Songs From the Blue Ridge gives every indication of being a radio/fan favorite. From the bouncy “Dixieland For Me” to the admonishing “You Can Go to Heaven,” Songs From The Blue Ridge is a bluegrass delight.

The disc is evenly divided between band originals and bluegrass fare. “Dixieland For Me” first saw the light of day in the middle 1960s on a bluegrass album by George Jones and Melba Montgomery. The Country Gentlemen had recordings of “The Convict and the Rose” and “Wear a Red Rose.” Larry Sparks popularized Harold Russell’s “These Old Prison Bars” nearly 50 years ago! Of more recent vintage is Dudley Connell’s (Seldom Scene/ex-Johnson Mountain Boy) “Too Late to Say Goodbye.”

The pleading “Now I’m Losing You” was penned by Mickey, who also offers a thoughtful reworking to a song recorded in the 1960s by the Stanley Brothers, “Drunkard’s Dream.” Cullen Galyean’s “The Blue Ridge Mountains” is an autobiographical account of his life in the hills. Pardue takes a strong stand about the purity of his music with “No Candy in My Bluegrass.” Hawks’ “Outback” is an original fiddle tune that sounds like one you’ve heard all your life – it’s that good! Despite the pensive sound of its title, Hiatt’s “She’s Gone” is barn-burning up-tempo bluegrass! As with all good bluegrass albums, you need a gospel song; Pardue’s “You Can Go to Heaven,” complete with the assurance that “You don’t have to have a PhD… heaven is waiting for the ones who believe,” fills the bill.