Marty Raybon
Southern Roots & Branches (Yesterday & Today)
Rural Rhythm Records
3.5 stars (out of 5)

and

Hand to the Plow
Rural Rhythm Records
3.5 stars (out of 5) 

Of all the country stars who have migrated to bluegrass music over the past decade and a half, former Shenandoah frontman Marty Raybon seems among the most sincere. His genuine vocal style has graced more bluegrass stages than most other CMT refugees, and he continues to put out good records with plenty of bluegrass flavor, most recently Southern Roots & Branches (Yesterday & Today).

He’s  simultaneously released what you would call a contemporary country gospel album, Hand to the Plow, on the same label, showing his interest in promoting that message to as many as will listen.

Of more interest to the readers of this space is the latter effort, a dozen-song effort recorded with a revolving lineup of Nashville bluegrass studio regulars, most notably Bryan Sutton on lead guitar.

“Dirt Road Heartache” and Rodney Crowell’s “Long Hard Road” are a nice fast-then-slow combo to show the uninitiated Raybon’s ease in handling diverse material, and the “road trilogy” is tidily completed by a swinging pass at Monroe’s “Rocky Road Blues.”

There’s more first-rate first-gen bluegrass here, with “White House Blues,” “Home Run Man,” “Prayer Bells of Heaven,” and “Down the Road” making welcome appearances.

A soaring “Beulah Land,” the catchy “Next to You, Next to Me,” and “Ghost in this House,” one of my favorite all-time contemporary country performances when done by Raybon or Alison Krauss, are also familiar from Raybon’s days with Shenandoah.

Which is to say that there’s some pretty nice stuff on here, but it seems like we’ve heard it before when we’d maybe prefer a great singer like this stretching his legs over some unfamiliar territory. If you haven’t, or just want a handy package of Marty at his best, by all means get this record.

I’m not going to take a stab at a full review of Hand to the Plow, which features five of 10 tracks penned by Raybon. Songs of faith are very hard to do well, and the results here are a touch too oversweet for my taste (though I am a believer), though well within the range of what seems poplular in similar circles these days.

Raybon’s singing is, in any case, better than the material, and the bluesy romp through “I’m Working on a Building” with T. Graham Brown, Jimmy Fortune and Trace Adkins had me tapping my toes more than once.