Lawrence.com

Sunday Silence

Arthur Hancock

If the album title reminds you of the 1989 Kentucky Derby, you're a racing fan. And you're right.

The title cut honors the 3-year-old thoroughbred who won the 1989 Derby and went on to win the Preakness.

And there's a good reason.

Arthur Boyd Hancock III owns Stone Farm in Paris, Ky. � a horse farm that has produced three Derby winners. There was Gato del Sol in 1982. Sunday Silence in 1989. And Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000.

But Sunday Silence makes a better song title � "When all the dreams I dream do not come true/and the friends I have turn out to be so few/when it seems the world is closing in on me/Sunday Silence soothes my soul and sets me free."

Back in 1965, when he was a student at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., Hancock fell head over heels in love with bluegrass. But he was a fourth-generation horseman and when his life reached a crossroads, he followed his bloodlines.

Now, he's taking the road less traveled with his first bluegrass album, featuring 13 songs he's written through the years. And Hancock has assembled one heckuva band for his bluegrass debut. Sam Bush, J.D. Crowe, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Mark Fain, Brian Sutton, Eddie Adcock, Peter Rowan and Patti Mitchell.

However, "Sunday Silence," other than the title, isn't about horses. It's about life.

Highlights include "Whiskey Olde Whiskey," tales of tragedy caused by drinking; "Are You Sleeping Daddy Darlin'?," an ode to a dead parent; "Ashland Woman," a ghost story; "Homesick for Heaven," a gospel song; and the uptempo "Rockin' at the Rip Van Dam."

If you can't find this in stores, write Hancock at Stone Farm, 200 Stoney Point Road, Paris, Ky. 40361.

Singles to request from the DJ

� Mitchell Harrell, "I Want to be A Redneck," from his "Shoes Too Big To Fill" album on the So Long label. You gotta love it just for the title, but it's also a good song about a corporate worker who longs to drive a truck, chew and spit and maybe get a tattoo.

� The Karl Shiflett & Big Country Show, "Cold, Cold Love," from their "Full Color" album on Rebel. It sounds like a '50s honky-tonk weeper, but it's new.

� Misty River, "Only Love," from their "Rising" album on the MRCD label. Christine Kokesh has a dreamy vocal style worth hearing again and again.