Biography
Longview took its name from the Massachusetts studio where the six-piece ensemble tracked its first album over the course of a single week. The group assembled six leading figures in traditional bluegrass, each an accomplished instrumentalist and vocalist, and their performances evoked the tight, hard-driving style of hill-country bands from the 1940s and 1950s while honoring the genre’s foundational repertoire.
The idea for the band originated at an impromptu late-night jam during the 1994 Denton, North Carolina Bluegrass Festival, an event marking Rounder Records’ twenty-fifth anniversary. Participants included James King, Dudley Cornell, and Don Rigsby. King, already known for his 1980s work alongside Ralph Stanley, had earned praise for the solo releases These Old Pictures (1995) and Lonesome And Then Some (1997). Cornell, whose father had performed with the Johnson Boys in the Washington, D.C., region during the 1950s, had served as lead singer and guitarist for the Johnson Mountain Boys before stepping into the late John Duffey’s role with the Seldom Scene. Rigsby contributed mandolin and high-tenor vocals to the Bluegrass Cardinals, J.D. Crowe & the New South, and the Lonesome River Band.
Several months afterward, Cornell reconvened with fiddler Glen Duncan and banjoist Joe Mullins for another festival jam in Ohio, renewing the chemistry first sparked in North Carolina. Duncan, who had co-directed Lonesome Standard Time between 1991 and 1995, brought extensive session experience with Bill Monroe, Jim & Jesse, the Osborne Brothers, Reba McEntire, and Barbara Mandrell. Mullins had played with Traditional Grass from 1983 through 1995.
Rounder co-owner Ken Irwin encouraged the musicians to formalize the project, adding bass player Marshall Wilborn of the Lynn Morris Band. The five principals plus Wilborn convened for five days in December 1995 at the Long View Recording studio complex in North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Working mostly live and without overdubs, they recorded three selections each day and presented an informal concert for a small audience. Concentrating on material associated with the Louvin Brothers, Don Reno, and Ralph Stanley, the sessions yielded an album distinguished by crisp ensemble interplay and deeply expressive vocal harmonies. High Lonesome appeared in the middle of 1999.
The idea for the band originated at an impromptu late-night jam during the 1994 Denton, North Carolina Bluegrass Festival, an event marking Rounder Records’ twenty-fifth anniversary. Participants included James King, Dudley Cornell, and Don Rigsby. King, already known for his 1980s work alongside Ralph Stanley, had earned praise for the solo releases These Old Pictures (1995) and Lonesome And Then Some (1997). Cornell, whose father had performed with the Johnson Boys in the Washington, D.C., region during the 1950s, had served as lead singer and guitarist for the Johnson Mountain Boys before stepping into the late John Duffey’s role with the Seldom Scene. Rigsby contributed mandolin and high-tenor vocals to the Bluegrass Cardinals, J.D. Crowe & the New South, and the Lonesome River Band.
Several months afterward, Cornell reconvened with fiddler Glen Duncan and banjoist Joe Mullins for another festival jam in Ohio, renewing the chemistry first sparked in North Carolina. Duncan, who had co-directed Lonesome Standard Time between 1991 and 1995, brought extensive session experience with Bill Monroe, Jim & Jesse, the Osborne Brothers, Reba McEntire, and Barbara Mandrell. Mullins had played with Traditional Grass from 1983 through 1995.
Rounder co-owner Ken Irwin encouraged the musicians to formalize the project, adding bass player Marshall Wilborn of the Lynn Morris Band. The five principals plus Wilborn convened for five days in December 1995 at the Long View Recording studio complex in North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Working mostly live and without overdubs, they recorded three selections each day and presented an informal concert for a small audience. Concentrating on material associated with the Louvin Brothers, Don Reno, and Ralph Stanley, the sessions yielded an album distinguished by crisp ensemble interplay and deeply expressive vocal harmonies. High Lonesome appeared in the middle of 1999.
Albums
Singles
