In the aftermath of last fall’s Hurricane Helene and the devastation it brought to east Tennessee and western North Carolina, fiddle and mandolin ace Andy Leftwich and Mountain Home Music Company responded with the release of his soulful instrumental adaptation of the beloved traditional American gospel ballad, “Talk About Suffering.” Now, as a harbinger of springtime and its renewed vitality, Leftwich is back with “Highland Rim,” an energetic tune that reminds listeners once again that he — and

With Andy Leftwich’s last single, “Behind the 8 Ball,” still enjoying a level of airplay rarely given to an instrumental bluegrass recording, the acclaimed fiddler is back with a new one to remind listeners that his mastery extends into other genres, too.

He may be one of the most recorded fiddle players of the 21st century, but Mountain Home Music Company recording artist Andy Leftwich qualifies as a musician’s musician — widely admired by his peers and colleagues, yet still one of the best-kept secrets in and around the world of bluegrass music.

There’s a lot to be said for simple pleasures, and in the realm of American roots music, few are more elementally satisfying than an easily hummable, instantly memorable fiddle tune. Fiddler and mandolinist Andy Leftwich isn’t afraid of complex musical challenges — his stature as a first-call session player attests to that — and he’s more than capable of virtuosity and pyrotechnics on either instrument, as his previous single, “Pikes Peak Breakdown” demonstrated on its way to the highest reaches of the bluegrass chart.

Though Andy Leftwich is best known for his years-long stint as the fiddle player in Ricky Skaggs’ award-winning Kentucky Thunder, insiders have known him as a ferociously talented mandolin player, too — and with the release of his second single for Mountain Home, the word is sure to spread among bluegrass and acoustic music fans of every stripe.