Steve Kilby - Plain & Fancy

(Heritage HRC-CD-654) 2000

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This is a CD of flat-picking guitar, mostly of the 'fancy' variety. The 'plain' I guess, consists of the two tracks which feature George Shuffler, Will You Miss Me and Nine Pound Hammer.

George kicks off Will You Miss Me with his influential cross-picking technique before swapping to Steve Kilby's version, then back to George & followed by a Steve flat-picking a bit, and finally George finishes the tune.

In the liner notes Steve says of Nine Pound Hammer:- "...is a bluegrass classic played here by George & John Shuffler, with me playing along. I first heard George play this with the Stanley Brothers on a live recording when I was learning to play the guitar. While we were in the studio warming up we played this song and it sounded so good we decided to record it."

The track follows a similar pattern to Will You Miss Me, with a couple of rounds of George's cross-picking, which Steve Kilby picks up and then expands upon in a couple of tangents. Neither version sounds wholly successful to my ear...

George's brother John Shuffler, who was with the CMB's between 1950-51 and 1953 (after a stint in Korea), also plays bass on the two tracks with George, plus Black Mountain Rag and the finale Down Yonder.

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