Chieftains Further Down The Old Plank Road CD

Additional personnel includes: John Hiatt (vocals, guitar); Tim O'Brien, Christopher Thile (vocals, mandolin); Nickel Creek, Sara Watkins (vocals, fiddle); Allison Moorer, Patty Loveless, Rosanne Cash, Ricky Skaggs (vocals); Jeff White (acoustic guitar, mandolin); John Leventhal (acoustic guitar); Chet Atkins, Doc Watson, Merle Watson (guitar); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Caroline Lavelle (cello); Martin O'Connor (accordion); Matt Rollings (piano); Glenn Worf (upright bass); Kenny Malone, Shannon Forrest (drums); Caroline Goodgold, Deborah Lyons, Margaret Dorn, Teddy Thompson (background vocals).

The successor to the phenomenally successful DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD, this mixed-bag collection of folk perennials and newer material features the same cast as the former album in much of the same folk-meets-country setting. A welcome result of the hugely successful O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? movie soundtrack, this pair of albums brought together the Chieftains and a plethora of country artists in a meeting of old and new worlds, a physical manifestation of the cultural cross-pollination that has been ongoing between Europe and America for centuries.

Here, as on the former album, old-timers such as Doc Watson, Don Williams, John Prine, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band share equal time with such comparative newcomers as Allison Moorer and Patty Loveless, whose reading of "Three Little Babes" is a highlight. Sadly, FURTHER DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD features what was to be the last performance of Chieftains member Derek Bell, who died shortly after the album was completed.

Includes liner notes by Robert K. Oermann.

The Chieftains: Kevin Conneff (vocals, bodhran); Matt Molloy (flute); Paddy Moloney (tin whistle, Uillean pipes); Sean Keane (fiddle); Derek Bell (harp, keyboards, tiompan).

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Jeff Hanna (vocals, guitar); Jimmy Ibbotson (guitar); Jerry Douglas (resophonic guitar); Bela Fleck (banjo); Jimmie Fadden (harmonica, drums); Edgar Meyer (bass).

Dirty Linen (4/04, p.53) - "[T]his one was well worth it, and provides interesting and challenging listening."