"Now THAT'S MY kind of music and the kind of singing I like to hear" Doc Watson commenting backstage on Wendys live performance of Keep On The Sunny Side - Merlefest, April 2001
Wendy's track Notes from the CD
1)Nelly Bly
(2:51)Stephan Foster
I learned this great old song by listening to Grandpa Jones sing it. It was always one of my most requested songs when performing with the Appalachian Mountain Girls or the Brushy Mountain Band at the Saturday night Mountain Music Jamboree in Laurel Springs, NC. Wendy -vocals,bass Steve -guitar Edwin -banjo Rickie -fiddle, mandolin, harmony vocal
2)Chicken On Ice
(2:42) Kyle Dean Smith /RimRidge Music
Chicken On Ice is an original instrumental written by Kyle Dean Smith of Galax,Va. He says he "came up with the melody about 2 a.m.while messing around in D tuning ".Later,he and his Dad were listening to an old recording of 'Cacklin Hen '."The fiddler played a wild,crazy riff. Obviously he goofed up and tried to recover.I told Dad,'Sounds like a cartoon of a chicken on ice -and a title was born!" Kyle Dean -banjo Rickie -fiddle,guitar, rhythm mandolin Wendy -Bass
3)Living The Blues
(4:03)Bob Dylan /Big Sky Music
I first heard this song performed by Roland White with the Nashville Bluegrass Band,and just couldn 't rest until I learned it myself. What a fun song!I love Rob 's bluesy Dobro licks and Rickie 's subtle touches on the fiddle.It 's a pleasure and a privilege to work with such wonderful musicans. Wendy -vocal,bass Rickie -fiddle,mandolin Rob -dobro Steve -guitar Kyle Dean -banjo
4)Keep On The Sunny Side
(2:47)Traditional
This song has a wonderful message and is one of my all time favorites. It was popularized by the Carter Family in the 1920 's and is still very popular at musical gatherings in our area. Wendy -vocal,bass Rickie -fiddle,mandolin Steve -guitar Edwin -banjo
5)Sweet Rosie By The River
(2:26 )Allen Mills /Poplar Camp Music
Ernest Johnson and I have sung this song together and with the Brushy Mountain Band for many years.Ernest is a long time friend and well known fiddler from Wilkes County,NC,and is featured here on lead vocals and lead fiddle. A special treat was having Rickie join us on harmony singing and play his awesome harmony fiddling. Allen Mills, leader of the Lost and Found bluegrass band from Ferrum,VA wrote this song. Ernest -lead vocal, lead fiddle Rickie -harmony fiddle,vocal,mandolin,guitar Wendy -harmony vocal,bass
6)Wildwood Flower
(3:07)Traditional
This song goes back to at least 1859 as Maud Irving 's "I 'll Twine Midst the Ringlets " and perhaps as "The Pale Amaryllis " before that..Maybelle Carter remembers her mother singing this song and the Carter Family popularized it in America in 1928. Most everyone recogonizes the melody as it is often done as an instrumental. I love Steve 's guitar picking and on this one he makes it sound like Mother Maybelle is in the room. Wendy -vocal, bass Rickie -fiddle,mandolin Steve -guitar Edwin -banjo
7)Chestnut Ridge
(3:31) Wendy Lewis &Rickie Simpkins/RimRidge Music
The beauty of these mountains reminds me that each day is a precious gift.This peaceful melody came to me while I was running on the Parkway early one morning.Rickie co-wrote and helped bring the song to life.The song 's name is in memory of the native American Chestnut Tree,Castanea dentata.Prior to the Chestnut blight,the tree accounted for one third of all trees in the Blue Ridge mountains and much of the eastern US.The blight was imported along with foreign plants brought into New York in 1904 and devastated the Chestnuts by the 1930 's.Researchers are hoping to find a means to grow healthy trees from the few surviving roots and plants.Rickie -fiddle,rhythm guitar Rob -dobro Kyle Dean -banjo Wendy -bass
8)My Home 's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains
(2:49)Traditional
Edwin attends the University of Dubuque but his home is just across the Blue Ridge Mountains in Wytheville,Va. He 's one of my favorite banjo players, we 're fortunate to have him on this project.Lujean also lives just over the mountain in Sparta,NC-a beautiful person with a beautiful voice. Wendy -lead vocal, bass Lujean -harmony vocal Steve -guitar Rickie -fiddle Edwin -Banjo
9)Is The Blue Moon Still Shining
(3:39)Melissa Monroe
A great song written by Bill Monroe 's daughter,Melissa. Laurie Lewis 's version of this song (no relation that I know of) was my inspiration on this.I wish I could sing it as well as she does. Wendy -vocals,bass Rickie -fiddle,mandolin Steve -guitar
10)I 'll Fly Away
(3:24 )A.E.Brumley
While we were working on this project my good friend Jimmie Newsom was up jamming one day and we sang this song.His bass voice made the song!He was scheduled for a kidney transplant in a few weeks,and we didn 't know when he 'd be back up to visit.So I asked him if he 'd run down to the studio right then and put that bass down,and he did.It was perfect. Wendy -vocals,bass Jimmie -bass vocal Steve -Guitar Rickie -fiddle, mandolin Kyle Dean -Banjo
11)I 'll Pick Pretty Flowers
(3:25)Judie Cox Pagter
I was less than 10 years old when I first listened to the group Country Ham playing around the festival campfires. I loved listening to Carl 's clawhammer banjo with Judie 's singing. They 've had a big influence on my music.Our friend and neighbor,Michael K.Bell joins us on the hammered dulcimer which fits this song so well. This one 's for you, Mom. Wendy -vocals,bass Rickie -fiddle,mandolin Michael -hammered dulcimer Steve -guitar Edwin -banjo
12)When The Roses Bloom In Dixie Land
(3:35 )George Evans
This is the first song that Steve Kilby and I played together when we both happened to meet at the Alleghany Jubilee in Sparta, NC one Tuesday night. Steve 's driving flatpick guitar style really brings this old favorite to life. Edwin Lacy and Rickie Simpkins add just the right blend of banjo and fiddle to suit my taste and I 'm playing bass.
Wendy Lewis
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