Shine on

SHINE is the first full album of new material in three years from the legendary godfather of mountain soul, Ralph Stanley.

Spiritual songs have long provided the musical bedrock for bluegrass patriarch Ralph Stanley, from the heavenly strains of the Stanley Brothers' "Angel Band" through the a cappella chill of "O Death." This collection of sacred material shows the expressive range and soulful depth of Stanley's keening tenor, with his Clinch Mountain Boys providing gospel harmonies and spare instrumental backing. Some of the highlights are all voice--Stanley's stately solo rendition of the traditional "The Old Church Yard," the four-part harmonies of "Sing Songs About Jesus"--while "On a High, High Mountain" features Stanley backed only by the fiddle and vocal harmony of John Rigsby. Producer Ralph Stanley II takes the lead vocal on "My Main Trial Is Yet to Come," a convict's lament as he faces the electric chair. The elder Stanley's unvarnished vocals strip familiar fare such as "This Little Light of Mine," "I'll Fly Away," and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" to their spiritual essence, with a tune from Dolly Parton giving the album a more contemporary title track. --Don McLeese