October 13, 2023 — Following the mid-tempo blues-grass of Danny Roberts’ take on “My Brown Eyed Darling,” a vintage classic from West Virginia’s Lonesome Pine Fiddlers that featured Andrea Roberts’ haunting lead vocal and searing harmonies from IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year nominee (and the Roberts’daughter) Jaelee, the mandolin maestro returns with a lithe instrumental that keeps — at least in its title — the geographical thread alive.
“West Virginia Red” finds Roberts, a founding member of venerable bluegrass sextet, The Grascals, serving up a rapid-fire original that marries a distinctly contemporary melody and improvisation to a traditional, 2-part fiddle tune construction. The single emphasizes the ‘grassiness of the excursion by handing the opening pass through the form to the 5-string banjo, played here by longtime colleague Tony Wray, before Roberts takes over. From there, Wray returns with a deft guitar solo and fiddler Jimmy Mattingly — a friend since childhood who helped to found The Grascals and is a long-tenured bandmember with Garth Brooks — offers his own, propulsive twist on the tune before Roberts and Wray return to trade riffs in a final romp to the finish.
“I’ve had this tune bouncing around in my head for several years,” notes Roberts, “and decided that it would fit in well on this recording project. My friends Tony and Jimmy, along with my wife Andrea on bass, joined me on this track and it is really fun to play. I hope it’s really fun to listen to as well!
“The song title has a two-fold story on how it was named,” Roberts reveals. “First, the mandolin that I’m playing on all of the songs (and on the road) is my 2020 Jonathan McClanahan Trinity model F5 that has a beautiful West Virginia redspruce top. The second reason for that song title is after my good friend Amanda Smith (Kenny and Amanda Smith Band) who is originally from West Virginia. I’ve always joked with her that I was going to name a tune after her and her WV red streak, and I decided it was finally time to do it! Ha! Well, that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it — and I sure hope everyone enjoys ‘West Virginia Red.’”
Listen to “West Virginia Red” HERE.
About Danny Roberts
For over 30 years, mandolinist Danny Roberts has been a steady presence in the heart of the bluegrass mainstream. Born and raised in Leitchfield, Kentucky, he was a founding member of New Tradition, a prominent bluegrass gospel group that toured widely throughout the 1990s, released eight well-received albums (including two for Mountain Home Music Company) and served as a “school of bluegrass” for musicians who went on to work with artists such as the Lonesome River Band, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and the Special Consensus. At the beginning of the century, Danny began working for Gibson Musical Instruments, eventually becoming head of its Mandolin Division and Nashville Plant and Repair Supervisor before starting his own repair service, Just Off The Bench. While still at Gibson, he helped to found The Grascals, the award-winning bluegrass sextet that quickly rose to the music’s top ranks when they earned the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Song and Emerging Artist of the Year awards in 2005 and its top Entertainer of the Year honors in 2006 and 2007; he continues to serve as the group’s mandolin player and senior member. Danny released his first solo album in 2004, and made his Mountain Home Music Company debut as a solo artist with 2014’s Nighthawk.