After the straight talk about a musician’s career in his last single, “Life on the Road,” mandolin ace Danny Roberts is back with a new instrumental for Mountain Home Music Company that pays homage to a couple of mentors.
“While I was putting together songs for this session,” Roberts recalls, “I knew that I wanted to salute two of my favorite mandolin players – Doyle Lawson and Herschel Sizemore. Both of these men not only had an impact on me musically, but personally as well, and I wanted to pay tribute to them by writing a song that would show their influence on my playing — and ‘Lawson Sizemore’ is it.”
Indeed, with the contrast between an ultra-simple chord progression in its first part and a deliciously unexpected turn in the second, “Lawson Sizemore” neatly tips its hat to both of those innovators, revealing Roberts’ grasp of the essence of each master’s approach, not only to picking, but to tune writing as well. Cast in classic bluegrass instrumental form, Roberts offers the first statement, followed by veteran Tony Wray, who delivers both banjo and guitar takes on the tune’s arpeggiated melodies. Then Roberts’ long-time friend and fellow co-founder of the Grascals, Jimmy Mattingly (Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks) serves up a typically sweet and incisive turn on the fiddle before Roberts returns to bring the track home in a final pass.
“I really enjoyed writing this tune,” says Roberts, “and I hope I did two of my mandolin heroes justice with ‘Lawson Sizemore’!”
Listen to it HERE.
