Album: Dan Tyminski

Carry me across the mountain, Southbound

"I suppose I should thank, ah, George Clooney, for one," said Dan Tyminski on receiving the Country Music Association's awards for Single of the Year and Album of the Year. And with good reason: having spent many anonymous years as a bearded bluegrass picker in the Lonesome River Band and more recently as part of Alison Krauss + Union Station, Tyminski experienced a huge wave of public acclaim as the voice behind Clooney's song performances in O Brother, Where Art Thou? The increased profile finally secured Tyminski the solo deal that had eluded him before, despite his growing reputation as one of the key figures behind bluegrass's recent renaissance and his guest appearances on albums by the likes of Randy Travis, Clint Black and Dolly Parton. It's an assured debut, with bluegrass rave-ups like "Stuck in the Middle of Nowhere" and Tyminski's own instrumental "Greens Fees" taken at a breakneck pace by a band featuring several fellow Union Station members – Jerry Douglas's Dobro is outstanding on the latter, while Ron Block's banjo drives "Carry Me across the Mountain" along with aplomb. Tyminski's voice, meanwhile, is warm and weathered on modern gospel cuts such as "Be Assured" and "Faith Is a Mystery", regretful separation songs such as "Think about You Every Day", and tear-jerkers such as "Please Dear Mommy", which features both marital instability and the death of a small child – sort of the country music equivalent of a royal flush. Tyminski addicts can also find him on fine form on Alison Krauss + Union Station's recently released Live double album on Rounder.