Walks the Strings and Even Sings

In the early days of country music, improvisers who didn’t read or write music were able to take their instruments and be flexible enough to adapt to most any style of music, other players, and vocalists. Chet Atkins’ group produced distinctive instrumentation with a relaxed, tensionless feeling and loose, easygoing beat. The commercial sound emphasized the guitar, and his basic style was patterned after that of Jim Mason, a black guitarist from Kentucky who played a “choke” style. Mason taught it to a white coal miner, Mose Rager, who taught it to Ike Everly (father of the Everly Brothers). Reger also taught Kentuckian Merle Travis who influenced Atkins’ playing. Another skillful proponent of the Kentucky thumbpicking style (aka Travis-style picking) is Eddie Pennington who also hails from the Bluegrass State. As a teenager in 1974, Pennington began visiting Mose Rager at his Drakesboro, KY. home. These 20 tracks were recorded in 1994-96. He’s a man who clearly knows how to make his Git-box sing! Pennington plays a few from Mose Rager – “Walking the Strings” and “Mose’s Blues” and “The Pig Got Up.” He also picks a few from Travis (“Information, Please” and “So Round, So Firm”). Other tunes on the project credit William Kent, John Travis, Billy Grammer, Joe Maphis, Uncle Collie Barnes, Hezekiah Jenkins, Hal Riley, his father Norman, and his brother Larry. Perhaps his most impressive technical skill on guitar is demonstrated on “John’s Smoke Turns Blue” and “Over the Rainbow” and “Stealing Time.” The former has a genesis that takes it to an uptempo dazzler that exudes contagious energy. Besides being a astonishing picker, Pennington’s baritone voice is well suited to humorous offerings like “Fertile Liza,” “The Pig Got Up,” “Information Please” and “The Panic is On.” Pennington has toured nationally as a member of the “Masters of the Steel String Guitar," showcased at the Kennedy Center and the Barns of Wolf Trap, and he received the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship in 2001 in recognition of his artistry and excellence in performing Kentucky thumbpicking-style guitar. Eddie also holds an Honorary Doctorate degree from Western Kentucky University. The National Thumbpicking Champion in 1986 and 1987, Pennington was inducted into the Thumbpickers Hall of Fame in 2003. Eddie Pennington sure knows how to tickle the strings … and he even sings. This album on the Smithsonian Folkways label is a real treat to hear in that it documents and will help spread the sound of one of American’s living national treasures. Pennington has six other projects available that were released between 1993-2000. It’s uncertain if any of the cuts on those projects duplicate those on this release. A 24-page CD booklet provides excellent notes from Joe Wilson (Director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts) and Dr. Erika Brady (Professor of Folk Studies and Anthropology at Western Kentucky University). Check out this amazing guitar picker who performs with distinctive aplomb. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)