THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM BAND's Landmark LP to Return Remastered

Craft Recordings will reissue THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM, the 1981 debut studio recording from THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM BAND, in a remastered edition on vinyl and digital platforms. The release brings together guitarist Tony Rice, banjo player and vocalist J.D. Crowe, mandolinist Doyle Lawson, fiddler Bobby Hicks, and double bassist Todd Phillips, marking the first vinyl reissue of the album since its original release. The new edition arrives in what would have been Rice's 75th year and features all-analog mastering with lacquers cut from tape by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, alongside standard and hi-res digital audio.

The all-star project features a who's who of bluegrass luminaries, including Rice, J.D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson, Bobby Hicks, and Todd Phillips (collectively known as The Bluegrass Album Band). Together, they put their own spin on timeless classics, including Bill Monroe's 'On My Way Back To The Old Home' and Lester Flatt's 'Gonna Settle Down.'

Arriving September 25, THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM features all-analog (AAA) mastering with lacquers cut from tape by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. The remastered audio will also be available on digital platforms in standard and hi-res audio.

Joining Rice (guitar) and Crowe (banjo/vocals) were mandolinist Doyle Lawson (of The Country Gentlemen), double bassist Todd Phillips (David Grisman Quintet), and fiddler Bobby Hicks, whose lengthy resumé included stints with the 'Father of Bluegrass' Bill Monroe and Porter Wagoner. While each musician was known for pushing the boundaries of bluegrass—from Rice's jazz- and folk-influenced 'new acoustic' music to Crowe's integration of rock, jazz, folk, and country into The New South—the album found the players paying homage to their genre's foundational figures. As Rice wrote in the album's original jacket notes, 'This project was conceived out of my sheer love of traditional bluegrass music, and for the purpose of letting people know that neither I nor any of the personnel on this album have any intention of abandoning it.'

THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM, as it was aptly titled, found the supergroup recording live in studio, blending upbeat stompers with haunting balladry, all while bringing their unique touch to classic songs by Monroe ('On My Way Back To The Old Home,' 'Molly And Tenbrooks,' among others), Lester Flatt ('Gonna Settle Down'), Earl Scruggs ('Blue Ridge Cabin Home,' with Flatt), and the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers ('Pain In My Heart'), plus traditional material like 'Model Church.' The resulting album, released in 1981, was pure magic.

Calling themselves The Bluegrass Album Band, the quintet never expected the project to go beyond that one release—or beyond the studio. But the album's breakout success led them to tour and, eventually, release five more titles, with their final LP, THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM, VOL. 6, arriving in 1996. Crowe, Lawson, and Rice remained core members, while a revolving cast of musicians, including Jerry Douglas, Vassar Clements, and Mark Schatz, stepped in over the years. The original album, however, has long been considered a bluegrass masterpiece, influencing countless musicians along the way.

The Bluegrass Album Track Listing (Vinyl)

Side A:

1. Blue Ridge Cabin Home

2. We Can't Be Darlings Anymore

3. Molly And Tenbrooks

4. I Believe In You Darling

5. Model Church

Side B:

1. On My Way Back To The Old Home

2. Gonna Settle Down

3. Toy Heart

4. Pain In My Heart

5. Chalk Up Another One

6. River Of Death

The Bluegrass Album Track Listing (Digital)

Blue Ridge Cabin Home

We Can't Be Darlings Anymore

Molly And Tenbrooks

I Believe In You Darling

Model Church

On My Way Back To The Old Home

Gonna Settle Down

Toy Heart

Pain In My Heart

Chalk Up Another One

River Of Death

About Craft Recordings

Craft Recordings is home to one of the largest and most essential collections of master recordings and compositions in the world. Its storied repertoire includes landmark releases from icons such as Joan Baez, John Coltrane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Celia Cruz, Miles Davis, Isaac Hayes, John Lee Hooker, Little Richard, R.E.M., and Joan Sebastian. Plus, the catalog recordings of celebrated contemporary acts including A Day to Remember, Daddy Yankee, Evanescence, Alison Krauss, Nine Inch Nails, Taking Back Sunday, and Violent Femmes, to name just a few. Renowned imprints with catalogs issued under the Craft banner include Fania, Fantasy, Fearless, Musart, Nitro, Panart, Prestige, Riverside, Rounder, Specialty, Stax, Vanguard, Varèse Sarabande, Vee-Jay and Victory, among many others. Craft creates thoughtfully curated packages, with a meticulous devotion to quality and a commitment to preservation—ensuring that these recordings endure for new generations to discover. Craft is also home to the Billie Holiday and Tammy Wynette estates, which preserve and protect their respective names, likeness, and music through day-to-day legacy management of these cultural trailblazers.

THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM originated in 1980 when Rice and Crowe, both key figures in modern bluegrass, gathered Lawson, Hicks, and Phillips to record classic songs by genre pioneers including Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, and the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers. Rice, who had previously played guitar in Crowe's band THE NEW SOUTH, originally conceived the project as a single studio album for Rounder Records before it grew into a longer-running series.

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