Search - Jim Mills :: Hide Head Blues

Tight, well-arranged and a joyous listening experience

J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 09/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Playing Time - 35:20 -- Jim Mills hails from Raleigh, North Carolina and says he's been playing banjo all his life. After high school, he joined Summer Wages with Barry Berrier. From 1988-1993, Jim worked with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver before taking a job with Sugar Hill Records as shipping manager. In 1994, Mills joined Bass Mountain Boys, and in 1997 he went with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder. The 1999 IBMA award for "Instrumental Recording of the Year" went to him for "Bound to Ride." AND he holds the IBMA Banjo Player of the Year Awards for 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003.



Jim Mills' "Hide Head Blues" features his four original prewar flathead 5-string Gibson Mastertone banjos from the 1930s and 1940s. As Jim notes, each has its own peculiarities such as string tension, tuner ratio, action, neck contour, tone, volume and sustain. Two are equipped with the original 1930s Joseph Rogers calfskin heads which provide the full, rich, optimum tone that old banjos are noted for. For the project, Mills chose material from a wide range of sources such as The Delmore Brothers, Merle Haggard, Bill Emerson, Earl Scruggs, and Merle Travis. Central to every song is the hard-driving and tasty banjo as Mills demonstrates the instrument's applicability in such genres as old-time, classic country, blues, bluegrass, Gospel and even Celtic genres.



The title cut was written by Mills. Three numbers includes vocals, with Mills singing with Paul Brewster, Dan Tyminski, Don Rigsby or Barry Bales. Besides the lead vocals, Mills recorded thumb-style guitar picking on "Guitar Rag," using electric guitar which he hopes the bluegrass community won't hold against him. Tyminski sings lead on "Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar" and "Standing in the Need of Prayer." With more instrumentals to meet his fans' demands, Mills chose to record a neglected Earl Scruggs favorite, "Pick Along," as well as Bill Emerson's "Cowboys and Indians." Mills had learned the latter piece as a teen, but he hadn't played it much because he didn't know many guitar players able to accompany it.



The top Nashville-area session bluegrass instrumentalists include Dan Tyminski (guitar), Barry Bales (bass), Cody Kilby (guitar), Stuart Duncan (clawhammer banjo, fiddle), Adam Steffey (mandolin), and Andy Leftwich (fiddle). The music throughout this project is tight, well-arranged and a joyous listening experience. The sheer power of Mills' flathead banjos is truly impressive, especially when played so masterfully by a minstrel of his caliber. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

"

Great Bluegrass CD

Tyler Gingrich | Hilliard, OH USA | 10/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great bluegrass CD. The banjo is the featured instrument on most of these tracks but the vocals and other instruments definitely don't receive the short end.



My favorite tracks are Hide Head Blues, Standing In The Need of Prayer, and Cowboys and Indians.



It's good enough to take one of the 6 slots in my car's CD player. If you like bluegrass music, I would recommend that you add this CD to your collection.

"