Across the Blueridge Mountains

Harley Allen, son of prominent bluegrass singer (and Folkways recording artist) Red Allen, strikes out on his own in this inaugural recording. He is ably assisted by nine bluegrass musicians, including J.D. Crowe (banjo), Vassar Clements (fiddle), and Josh Graves (dobro). Red produced the recording.

Like his father, Harley Allen is an exponent of the “high lonesome sound,” a highly regarded vocal technique in mountain music, whether traditional or bluegrass. Harley explains his approach to bluegrass music in the following way: “Even though my brothers and I have experimented with the boundaries of bluegrass music, I wanted my first solo effort to be fairly straight ‘grass.’ I feel this album is.”