category: instrumental country / blues / easy listening

[excerpt from the CD liner notes]:
Kentucky-born Eddie Pennington echoes the sound of his mentor Mose Rager and parallels that of Chet Atkins, a fellow disciple of the all-American Kentucky thumbpicking known as Travis-style guitar, made famous by Merle Travis. In between dazzling displays of skill on favorite show-off tunes like "John’s Smoke Turns Blue" and "Over the Rainbow," the former Hazard County coroner unleashes his irrepressible tongue-in-cheek humor on tracks such as "Fertile Liza," "The Pig Got Up," and "Information Please." Pennington toured nationally as a member of the "Masters of the Steel String Guitar," showcased at the Kennedy Center and the Barns of Wolf Trap, and received the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship in recognition of his extraordinary artistry. -- Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage, Washington, DC)

CD Track Listing

  1. WALKING THE STRINGS (Merle Travis) (1:56)
  2. MOSE'S BLUES (Mose Rager) (2:41)
  3. WABASH CANNONBALL (William Kent) (1:55)
  4. INFORMATION PLEASE * (Travis / Hensley / Murrell) (3:03)
  5. JOHN'S SMOKE TURNS BLUE (aka BLUE SMOKE) (John M. Travis / Merle Travis) (3:58)
  6. HOME (Geoffrey & Harry Clarkson / Van Sheedan Jr) (3:03)
  7. NINE POUND HAMMER * (Merle Travis) (3:54)
  8. PIG ANKLE RAG (Norman Pennington) (2:54)
  9. RAINDROPS (Uncle Collie Barnes) (2:52)
10. FERTILE LIZA * (Larry Pennington) (3:32)
11. STEALING TIME (Eddie Pennington) (2:35)
12. SWEET GEORGIA BROWN (Bernei / Casey / Pinkard) (2:47)
13. THE PIG GOT UP * (trad. arr. E.Pennington) (2:03)
14. STONE'S RAG (trad. arr. E.Pennington) (3:07)
15. BYE, BYE BLUES (Bennett / Gray / Hamm / Lown) (2:53)
16. SO ROUND, SO FIRM (Travis / Kirk / Stone) (1:24)
17. THE PANIC IS ON * (Hezekiah Jenkins) (3:30)
18. BLUEBELL (Madden / Morse) (2:19)
19. DUNCAN & BRADY * (trad. arr. E.Pennington) (3:27)
20. OVER THE RAINBOW (Arlen / Harburg) (2:18)

* Eddie Pennington: vocals

Total timing: 56:20

Label/No: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings 40146

Release date: 2004