It’s been a while since I had a bluegrass day, but last night after a review of the Roots Music Bluegrass Charts, and some quick listens, I found three bands that served as today’s soundtrack! First was Cory Piatt’s Daydreams (#17), followed by Cumberland River’s latest The Way We Live(#37) and finally Sleepy Man Banjo Boys with their latest The Farthest Horizon. (#23). It’s been a good music day!!
In addition to the fact that I didn’t recognize Cory Piatt’s name, it stood out because my great-great grandmother was a Piatt, only they used the Pyott spelling! Corey Piat was born and raised in Winston-Salem, NC and currently calls Nashville home. He was raise in a musical family and has been playing the mandolin since the age of seven at competitions and festivals and with The Piatt Family Band. Currently, he plays mandolin in the The Kenny and Amanda Smith Band. His brother Owen also plays with the Smiths. Daydreams is Cory’s first solo album and he’s done a good job mixing instrumental tracks between some good vocal tracks. The vocals are handled by four singers: Darren Beachley, Brandon Bostic,Ronnie Bowman and Keith Garrett. In addition to Cory’s fine pickin’ theirs a boatload of other good pickers on the album including:
Bryan McDowell – fiddle, guitar (Claire Lynch Band)
Jake Stargel – guitar (Mountain Heart) (Sierra Hull)
Mark Schatz – bass (Claire Lynch Band) (He is a two time International Bluegrass Music Association Bass Player of the Year award winner.)
Randy Kohrs – resophonic guitar
Gaven Largent – resophonic guitar
Owen Piatt – banjo
Jim VanCleve – fiddle (Mountain Heart)
Scott Vestal– banjo (Continental Divide) (John Cowan Band)(Banjo Player of the Year in 1996 by the International Bluegrass Music Association)
See what I mean, guess that’s why the picking is so good, eh? Ok so now I need to go and finsih up so things I’ve been working on and then make dinner. I’ll be back to write about the other two bands in a while, but for now let’s head “Into the Night” with some music from Cory Piatt “Ashley’s Reel” a tune that appears on Daydreams.