Album Notes

Stony Man is an eclectic mix of original folk, rock, roots, jazz, and twang, featuring Bristol born Stuart Whitford along with Kent Ippolito and Henry Hubbard. Flavored with lots of mandolin, guitar, Dobro, and three part harmony, their music stretches from the mountains and hollows of Appalachia to the canyons and skies of the American Southwest, from Jimmie Rodgers to Nat King Cole, and from Uncle Dave Macon to the Grateful Dead, with plenty of original songs and instrumentals in the mix. This past year has seen Stony Man expand its performance calendar to include shows in Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee, including Jonesboro's Music on the Square and Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion. “We are always glad to have Stuart and his group return to Bristol to play,” commented Leah Ross, Executive Director of Bristol’s Rhythm and Roots Reunion. Ross added that in the past Whitford has taken part in the “Bristol Boys” reunion at the festival. Stuart Whitford's early musical career, in Bristol and Johnson City, included time as the Dobro player with Ron Greene and Donnie Ollis in the original Troublesome Hollow, as mandolinist with Joe Beidleman, Roger Rasnake, and Ronnie Rasnick in the group Flying South, and, in the late '70s and early '80s, with guitarist Stephen Sheehan in the Down Home house band, Our Gang. After a hiatus to raise two sons, Stuart began writing songs and performing again in 1998 and has since recorded two albums, performed as a New Folk Finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 1999 and 2000, and at the Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage in 2001. His 1998 debut CD, Vertical Land, has been called "thoughtful and personal" with "a deep connection to the western part of the US" (Bluegrass Unlimited), "a distinctive song cycle of great beauty and delicacy" (Sing Out! magazine), and "a wonderful record - something to be proud of" (Dobro master Jerry Douglas). For years, Kent Ippolito has played guitar, bass, and almost every member of the mandolin family, including mandola and mandocello, with various artists in Central Virginia. He has often teamed with Stuart in various groups and settings. Most recently Kent has added songwriting with Stuart and his wife, Pulitzer Prize winning poet Claudia Emerson, to his musical experiences. After some early years playing guitar and bass with friends in and around Blacksburg, Virginia, Henry Hubbard moved to Fredericksburg and met Stuart. A few years of back porch picking and neighborhood Christmas party sets with Stuart led to an eight year association with Stuart and Kent in various forms of the bands Vertical Land (with Jennifer Peart and Tom Groseclose), and Stony Man.