THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM BAND’S THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM

RETURNS REMASTERED ON VINYL & DIGITAL

 

Arriving on September 25, the influential 1981 debut from the bluegrass supergroup features

Tony Rice, J.D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson, Bobby Hicks and Todd Phillips

Click here to visit the online media kit

Click here to pre-order/pre-save now and listen to “Blue Ridge Cabin Home”

 

Los Angeles, CA (August 4, 2026)—Craft Recordings continues to honor the legacy of genre-defining bluegrass guitarist Tony Rice in what would have been his 75^th year, by announcing the first vinyl reissue of The Bluegrass Album since its release in 1981. The all-star project features a who’s who of bluegrass luminaries, including Rice, J.D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson, Bobby Hicks, and Todd Phillips (collectively known as The Bluegrass Album Band). Together, they put their own spin on timeless classics, including Bill Monroe’s “On My Way Back To The Old Home” and Lester Flatt’s “Gonna Settle Down.”

 

Arriving September 25 and available for pre-order/pre-save today, The Bluegrass Album features all-analog (AAA) mastering with lacquers cut from tape by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. The remastered audio will also be available on digital platforms in standard and hi-res audio. Stream “Blue Ridge Cabin Home” from the remastered album today.

 

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In 1980, two of the most revered names in modern bluegrass, Tony Rice (1951–2020) and J.D. Crowe (1937–2021), assembled some of the genre’s greatest progressive talents for an unlikely project—recording a collection of classic songs by seminal bluegrass artists. Rice, who began his career in the early ’70s as a member of Crowe’s legendary band, The New South, intended for this to be a one-off studio album for Rounder Records. Little did he know that he’d spark a beloved—and long-running—musical phenomenon.

 

Joining Rice (guitar) and Crowe (banjo/vocals) were mandolinist Doyle Lawson (of The Country Gentlemen), double bassist Todd Phillips (David Grisman Quintet), and fiddler Bobby Hicks, whose lengthy resumé included stints with the “Father of Bluegrass” Bill Monroe and Porter Wagoner. While each musician was known for pushing the boundaries of bluegrass—from Rice’s jazz- and folk-influenced “new acoustic” music to Crowe’s integration of rock, jazz, folk, and country into The New South—the album found the players paying homage to their genre’s foundational figures. As Rice wrote in the album’s original jacket notes, “This project was conceived out of my sheer love of traditional bluegrass music, and for the purpose of letting people know that neither I nor any of the personnel on this album have any intention of abandoning it.”

 

The Bluegrass Album, as it was aptly titled, found the supergroup recording live in studio, blending upbeat stompers with haunting balladry, all while bringing their unique touch to classic songs by Monroe (“On My Way Back To The Old Home,” “Molly And Tenbrooks,” among others), Lester Flatt (“Gonna Settle Down”), Earl Scruggs (“Blue Ridge Cabin Home,” with Flatt), and the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers (“Pain In My Heart”), plus traditional material like “Model Church.” The resulting album, released in 1981, was pure magic.

 

Calling themselves The Bluegrass Album Band, the quintet never expected the project to go beyond that one release—or beyond the studio. But the album’s breakout success led them to tour and, eventually, release five more titles, with their final LP, The Bluegrass Album, Vol. 6, arriving in 1996. Crowe, Lawson, and Rice remained core members, while a revolving cast of musicians, including Jerry Douglas, Vassar Clements, and Mark Schatz, stepped in over the years. The original album, however, has long been considered a bluegrass masterpiece, influencing countless musicians along the way.

 

Writing for Acoustic Guitar, multiple IBMA-winning artist Molly Tuttle praised “Rice’s mind-blowing guitar playing and vocals,” declaring the album “a must-hear for anyone who loves bluegrass.” Acclaimed duo Dailey & Vincent ranked the LP among their ten most essential bluegrass albums for MusicRadar, proclaiming, “To put all of those elite, wonderful artists together on one record is like catching lightning in a bottle…. If you’ve ever listened to it, you’ll know that it’s just truly special raw bluegrass music.”

 

Click here to pre-order/pre-save The Bluegrass Album.

 

The Bluegrass Album Track Listing (Vinyl)

Side A:

1. Blue Ridge Cabin Home
2. We Can’t Be Darlings Anymore
3. Molly And Tenbrooks
4. I Believe In You Darling
5. Model Church

 

Side B:

1. On My Way Back To The Old Home
2. Gonna Settle Down
3. Toy Heart
4. Pain In My Heart
5. Chalk Up Another One
6. River Of Death

 

The Bluegrass Album Track Listing (Digital)

1. Blue Ridge Cabin Home
2. We Can’t Be Darlings Anymore
3. Molly And Tenbrooks
4. I Believe In You Darling
5. Model Church
6. On My Way Back To The Old Home
7. Gonna Settle Down
8. Toy Heart
9. Pain In My Heart
10. Chalk Up Another One
11. River Of Death

 

 

About Craft Recordings:

Craft Recordings is home to one of the largest and most essential collections of master recordings and compositions in the world. Its storied repertoire includes landmark releases from icons such as Joan Baez, John Coltrane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Celia Cruz, Miles Davis, Isaac Hayes, John Lee Hooker, Little Richard, R.E.M., and Joan Sebastian. Plus, the catalog recordings of celebrated contemporary acts including A Day to Remember, Daddy Yankee, Evanescence, Alison Krauss, Nine Inch Nails, Taking Back Sunday and Violent Femmes, to name just a few. Renowned imprints with catalogs issued under the Craft banner include Fania, Fantasy, Fearless, Musart, Nitro, Panart, Prestige, Riverside, Rounder, Specialty, Stax, Vanguard, Varèse Sarabande, Vee-Jay and Victory, among many others. Craft creates thoughtfully curated packages, with a meticulous devotion to quality and a commitment to preservation—ensuring that these recordings endure for new generations to discover. Craft is also home to the Billie Holiday and Tammy Wynette estates which preserve and protect their respective names, likeness and music through day-to-day legacy management of these cultural trailblazers.

 

Craft Recordings is the catalog label team for Concord. For more info, visit CraftRecordings.com and follow on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

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