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Don Rigsby and Midnight Call
CMT.com

If there's one thing Don Rigsby believes, it's this: Music is a living history. The agreeable Eastern Kentucky native has dedicated his life to bluegrass as a singer, songwriter, mandolinist, producer and professor, and he's an ally to the genre's pioneers and newcomers alike. Talking about musicians from the area, whether famous or forgotten, Rigsby insists, "They're a link to the past. Everything they speak or play, you're hearing something from a bygone era that we really need to think about. When they sing about these things that happened, there's a history lesson in every piece of it. That's one of the reasons I'm so adamant about preserving it."

At age 5, Rigsby fell in love with an eight-track tape of Ralph Stanley telling the story of his beloved brother, Carter Stanley, and singing "Hills of Home" with Larry Sparks. The tape, recorded in 1959, included Stanley singing and playing "Little Maggie." Rigsby says, "I learned to sing from that." For his sixth birthday, his parents took him to Ashland, Ky., for a Ralph Stanley concert. Rigsby's father happened to know the band's singer, Keith Whitley, who hoisted the child on his shoulders and took him backstage to meet the man himself. "I'll never forget that," says Rigsby, now 38. "Ralph was so gracious and kind, and he's always been my friend ever since. He never forgot me! Ralph's nearing 80 years old, and I'm going to be 40 in a couple of years, and we're friends from the time I was 6. Never did he forget me, never ever, ever. That's pretty profound." 

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With this release, Don Rigsby, an Eastern Kentucky boy raised on the sounds of traditional bluegrass and old-time music, displays his respect for the music he loves to play. Rigsby fronts his own band, Midnight Call, and this CD marks the first time he has recorded as bandleader and he does it right. Some of my favorite tracks include a rollicking instrumental, the heroic tale of Big Jim, a sensitive cover in Bill Monroe’s Kentucky Waltz and Old Green Chevrolet, the poignant story of an old-time traveling minister passing the torch to a younger generation. Other highlights - an energetic Redbird and two gospel tracks - the exuberant He Loves To Hear You Shout and the insightful, slightly humorous Make God Laugh. Hillbilly Heartache is a powerhouse solo debut. On a five-point scale of traditional bluegrass excellence, this release merits a five. – Bob Mitchell, www.bluegrassmusicprofiles.com