It has been two years since One Step Forward, the last Lonesome River Band (LRB) recording, and you may have been wondering what the boys have been up to. Besides playing live shows, it turns out they have been very busy with solo recording projects -- three of which are reviewed here -- as well as working on a new LRB CD that will be out this summer. And for those of you wondering where lead singer and bassman Ronnie Bowman's CD is, well, it's coming soon.

LRB is one of the most popular contemporary bands in bluegrass. Their CD Carrying The Tradition won the IBMA's Album of the Year award in 1992 and Ronnie Bowman's solo recording Cold Virginia Night won the same prize in 1995, and he also won Male Vocalist of the Year that same year. And Sammy Shelor has won Best Instrumentalist of the Year for banjo the last three years in a row. With accomplishments like these it is no surprise that these guys sound so good.

Sammy Shelor doesn't sing very much but he doesn't have to as he lets his fingers do the talking for him on Leading Roll. Seven of the twelve songs are instrumentals, and he has some stellar sideman on his CD: guitarist Tony Rice, dobro deity Jerry Douglas, mandolinist Dan Tyminski (formerly of LRB) of Alison Krauss and Union Station, Ronnie Simpkins of the Seldom Scene on bass, and LRB bandmates Kenny Smith and Ronnie Bowman, to name a few. On the five songs that feature vocals there are five different guest singers. But as you might imagine, the banjo is the star here, with Sammy taking the Leading Roll, both figuratively and literally, with this supporting cast of bluegrass greats.

Kenny Smith, the big man with the sweet high lonesome voice, flatpicks like there is no tomorrow. Like Shelor's CD, seven of the songs on Studebaker are instrumentals. Kenny sings lead on four of the tunes, and his wife Amanda Smith sings the remaining song, a real pretty piece called Lay This Broken Heart To Rest, a song that could easily be out there on the country charts. Besides being assisted by his LRB bandmates, Smith got able help from former LRB member Adam Steffey on mandolin and Barry Bales on bass. Both of these guys are from the Union Station band. Studebaker hums along like a well-tuned vintage automobile.

Mandolin player Don Rigsby has A Vision, which is an album consisting entirely of gospel songs and he got lots of help by some of the players already mentioned as well as others, such as Ricky Skaggs, Ralph Stanley, J.D. Crowe, David Parmley, and others. Unlike Shelor and Smith's CDs there are no instrumentals here and Rigsby sings lead on 11 of the 13 cuts, deferring to Dr. Ralph on the remaining two. Close your eyes while listening to Don Rigsby on A Vision and you'll swear you see/hear visions of Vince Gill or Ricky Skaggs, two of the finer country/bluegrass singers around, both of whom Rigsby has played with and learned from.

There aren't too many bluegrass bands out there with each member taking one step forward with their own projects. Each one of these CDs is different than the other yet with a lot of the same people playing throughout. The Lonesome River Band's strength is the sum of its parts, but if you can't wait for the new LRB album or lead singer Ronnie Bowman's CD you can't go wrong with any of these three LRB members who are carrying the tradition to newer and higher ground.