''Whisperin' Bluegrass'' is a studio album by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer-songwriter Bill Anderson. It was released on October 23, 2007 via

Madacy Entertainment Madacy Lifestyle Marketing (formerly Madacy Entertainment) was a company based in Mount Royal, Quebec, that published DVDs, CDs and VHS tapes. Most of the products were frequently seen in many discount stores in the United States and Canada, ofte ...

and was produced by Steve Ivey. The project was Anderson's 41st studio recording in his career and his first album containing

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ...

. A total of 16 tracks were included on the project, many of which were covers of songs previously recorded by others. It received positive reviews upon its release.

Background and content

''Whisperin' Bluegrass'' began as a project to bring back a more traditional style of country music. According to Anderson, bluegrass reminded him of the more traditional country he grew up listening to. "A lot of these young kids are learning to play guitars and mandolins. They’re bringing a whole new interest to the genre. Mainstream country music has drifted pretty far from the shore, and bluegrass music is somewhat of an alternative," Anderson commented. ''Whisperin' Bluegrass'' was recorded at the IMI Studio, located in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. It was produced by Steve Ivey, making the album Anderson's first to be produced by Ivey. The album was a collection of 16 tracks. Half of the songs recorded for project were cover versions of hymns first recorded in a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

style. Eight of the other tracks were written by Anderson. Several of the album's tracks were duets Anderson recorded with other country artists. Duets are included with

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

and

Jon Randall Jon Randall Stewart (born February 17, 1969) is an American producer, songwriter, and musician. His career began as a guitarist for Emmylou Harris' Nash Ramblers with whom he won his first Grammy for their ''Live at the Ryman'' album in 1992. B ...

Jan Howard Jan Howard (born Lula Grace Johnson; March 13, 1929 – March 28, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. As a singer, she placed 30 singles on the ''Billboard'' country songs chart, was a Grand Ole Opry member and was nomin ...

was another featured duet partner on the project. Howard was Anderson's longtime collaborator during his years recording for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

Release and reception

''Whisperin' Bluegrass'' was released on October 23, 2007 on the

label. It was issued as a compact disc and a

music download A music download (commonly referred to as a digital download) is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a personal computer, portable media player, MP3 player or smartphone. Thi ...

. The album did not chart on any publication at the time of its release, including ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''. The album received positive reviews upon its original release. C. Eric Banister of ''Country Standard Time'' gave the effort a favorable response in 2007, highlighting the album's three new tracks and his vocal duets. Chet Flippo of

Country Music Television Country Music Television (CMT) is an American pay TV network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched on March 5, 1983, as Country Music Television, CMT was the first nationally available channel devoted to coun ...

called ''Whisperin' Bluegrass'' "a terrific album of country and gospel songs done up with bluegrass instrumentation." Don Rhodes of ''

The Augusta Chronicle ''The Augusta Chronicle'' is the daily newspaper of Augusta, Georgia, and is one of the oldest newspapers in the United States still in publication. The paper is known for its coverage of the Masters Tournament, which is played in Augusta. The ''C ...

'' also gave the album critical acclaim. Rhodes noted that the project's instrumentation was "perfection" and the voices on the record were "so pure" and "so real". "The songs are some of the best in country, bluegrass and gospel music," Rhodes concluded.

Track listing

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

of ''Whisperin' Bluegrass'' and

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. Musical personnel * Bill Anderson – lead vocals * Charlie Chadwick –

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

* Vince Gill – guest artist * Jan Howard – guest artist *

Rob Ickes Rob Ickes hymes with "bikes"is an American dobro (resonator guitar) player, born 1967 in San Francisco, California, United States. Ickes moved to Nashville in 1992 and joined the contemporary bluegrass band Blue Highway as a founding member in ...

–

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

* Steve Ivey – background vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards, piano *

Andy Leftwich Kentucky Thunder, or Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, is the band that plays with American country and bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs. Many members of the band have won numerous awards. Bandleader Ricky Skaggs plays mandolin and is the lea ...

–

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

* Willie Nelson – guest artist * Dolly Parton – guest artist * Jon Randall – guest artist * Keith Sewell – background vocals * Lester Earl Singer – acoustic guitar * Mike Toppins – acoustic guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, dobro Technical personnel * Steve Ivey – engineering, mixing, producer * Mike Toppins – production assistant

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2007 albums Bill Anderson (singer) albums Madacy Entertainment albums