The latest in a lengthening string of releases designed to benefit from association with the Coen brothers film O Brother, Where Art Thou? is this all-girl bluegrass compilation, which features on its cover the requisite stubbly cornfield and archaic font style. Opportunistic as the packaging may be, there s no arguing with the quality of the content. Generously packed with outstanding performances by women as stylistically disparate as Hazel Dickens, Claire Lynch, and Kathy Kallick, O Sister is a delightful celebration of several generations of criminally unheralded female bluegrass artists. The highlights are many, but particular standout tracks include Rhonda Vincent s rocking Lonesome Wind Blues, the hard-edged mountain sound of Phyllis Boyens (backed up by Hazel Dickens and the Johnson Mountain Boys), and the clawhammer banjo-powered Comin Down From God by the relatively unknown Carol Elizabeth Jones. The usual suspects are here too, of course, including Alison Krauss (on the exquisitely gentle and sweet Every Time You Say Goodbye ) and the Cox Family (twice). You might buy this one because you feel guilty about the way women have been neglected in the bluegrass world, but you ll keep coming back to it because the songs are just so dang good.



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Tracklist
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1. Claire Lynch / If Wishes Were Horses 2:38
2. Suzanne Thomas / Silver Tongue And Gold Plated Lies 3:29
3. Delia Bell / Sad Situation 2:30
4. Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard / True Life Blues 2:39
5. Rhonda Vincent / Lonesome Wind Blues 3:05
6. Cox Family / Pardon Me 2:47
7. Hazel Dickens & Ginny Hawker / Old River 3:02
8. Wilma Lee Cooper / You Tried To Ruin My Name 2:30
9. Hazel Dickens / I Can t Find Your Love Any More 2:38
10. Kathy Kallick with Laurie Lewis / Just Like Rain 2:18
11. Lynn Morris / Mama s Hand 4:16
12. Alison Krauss / Every Time You Say Goodbye 3:20
13. The Stevens Sisters / Blue 2:42
14. Ginny Hawker & Carol Elizabeth Jones / Time Is Winding Up 4:20
15. Laurie Lewis / Blow, Big Wind 2:55
16. The Cox Family with Alison Krauss / Will There Be Any Stars? 3:16
17. Phyllis Boyens / The Last Old Shovel 2:24
18. Carol Elizabeth Jones / Comin Down From God 2:45
19. Laurie Lewis, Claire Lynch, Lynn Morris, & Rhonda Vincent / Eight More Miles 2:42