| | Eddie Pennington Walks The Strings And Even Sings CD Eddie Pennington Discography of CDs
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Kentucky's Eddie Pennington has been rightly recognized as a national treasure on the guitar. His thumb-picking style, which he developed in the native region of his home state, is purely American, and perhaps best exemplified by the late, great Merle Travis. But Pennington himself is very much in the same class, a fluid, inventive player who can pick with the very best of them. Just how well he shows on the thrilling opener, "Walking the Strings," where he makes the impossible seem perfectly natural. Whether on blues ("Mose's Blues") or country (the influence on fully half the tracks here) or jazz ("Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Over the Rainbow"), he's completely at home, letting his fingers do the talking. He's no great shakes as a singer, but there's a self-deprecating pleasantness to his voice that's somehow charming. What keeps you listening, however, is the playing, which is equally powerful with both hands; any guitarist listening to "Stealing Time" will be hard pressed to even begin to replicate it -- the man is simply that good. These performances, recorded more than a decade ago, are simply stunning. ~ Chris Nickson
Liner Note Author: Joe "Flip" Wilson.
Photographers: Joe "Flip" Wilson; Nick Spitzer.
Arranger: Merle Travis.
Personnel: Eddie Pennington (guitar).
Audio Mixer: Pete Reiniger.
Walks The Strings And Even Sings Music Eddie Pennington Walks The Strings And Even Sings Songs Walks The Strings And Even Sings Music Review Average Rating: (5 out of 5 stars)  NIce stuff
Classic stuff, snooth and gentle, as it should be
Submitted by syncroring (Contoocook NH) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Amazing guitar picker who performs with distinctive aplomb
A 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)
Submitted by Joe Ross (Roseburg, OR, USA)
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