| ERNIE
THACKER
The Chill of Lonesome
Released 2002
Ernie
Thacker is a young man who first came to bluegrass
prominence as the mandolin player,
then lead singer/guitarist, with Ralph
Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys from
1988-94. "The
Chill of Lonesome," delivers
the bluegrass goods with a tight, highly-arranged
new traditional sound with a country
edge characterized by professional
vocals and instrumentals. Guest musicians
on the project include Dan
Tyminski, Ronnie Bowman, Ronnie Stewart,
Adam
Steffey, Ben Issaccs, Rob Ickes, and
Mountain Heart's Steve Gulley.
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Besides featuring one of the finest (and
heartfelt) singers in bluegrass today,
this album has some first-rate material
from contemporary bluegrass writers like
Keith Tew, Ronnie Bowman, Jerry
Williamson, Junior Sisk, and Mark
Mathewson. Each
and every song has a message, and Thacker
is a masterful storyteller when he sings
about faith, home, family, misery, loneliness,
sorrow, whiskey and women. Raised with
traditional values in Ohio, Thacker probably
relates most closely with the songs, "Momma
Preached and Daddy Plowed" and opening
track, "Little Piece of Land." Danette
Tew's gospel song, "Father, Son & Holy
Ghost," is a hard-driving offering. "Another
Piece of My Heart" is a song that
re-creates the classic country and bluegrass
sound of the 1950s, and it would've been
a good one for Flatt and Scruggs. "Old
Kentucky Home," a collaborative
song by Ronnie Bowman and Don Rigsby,
has the potential to become a bluegrass
standard. Mathewson's "Old Barn," is
a nostalgic piece that recalls a time
when things were made well. "Your
Own Brand of Misery" is straight-ahead
bluegrass with a common theme we hear
in the music when a past love that can't
be forgotten becomes tortuous. The album
title cut, "The Chill of Lonesome," tells
of the feeling coming on when your heart
sinks low. Thacker also demonstrates
a strong level of comfort interpreting
traditional numbers like Bill
Monroe's "Highway
of Sorrow." If confused about life,
the song, "Whiskey and Women," tells
us that a drink will drown the heartache
and a woman will bring you back around.
The album closes with "Old Time
Drunkard," and a warning that corn
liquor will be your death in the end.
With only eleven cuts (and a total playing
time of slightly over 33 minutes), The
Chill of Lonesome left me with an anxious
feeling of wanting to hear much more
soon from Ernie Thacker. For an album
full of heart and soul, and great musicianship,
I highly recommend this one.
- Joe
Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now
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