PINE MOUNTAIN RAILROAD: Alone with Forever

Pine Mountain Railroad

Alone with Forever

© 2006 Pine Mountain Railroad (634479460043)

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Original, traditional bluegrass featuring those high, lonesome lead vocals and family-tight, high harmonies laid over the finest bluegrass picking. It'll make you want to tap your toes and sing along.

notes

Pine Mountain Railroad
Knoxville, Tennessee

Re-formed in October 2006, this 8-year old band now includes some of bluegrass music's premier instrumentalists and vocalists. The band focuses on presenting a varying array of lead and harmony singers that entertain audiences with a wide variety of bluegrass and gospel bluegrass sounds.

Their latest album, the band's seventh, showcases the tremendous vocal talent they possess along with sterling original material, all from within the band. The album also features a classic from the world of Southern Gospel music, Two Shoes, a former number one for The Inspiration Quartet. It also features the PMRR-arranged Jim & Jesse McReynolds favorite, I Heard the Bluebirds Sing.

Hear this band every Saturday night as they introduce and close the Tennessee Pride portion of WSM's Grand Ole Opry.


Cody Shuler
Knoxville, TN

Born in Bryson City, North Carolina, Cody started playing the mandolin at age thirteen. At fifteen, he started playing for legendary banjo picker
Raymond Fairchild, where he played nightly at Raymond’s Maggie Valley Opry House for four years. At age nineteen, he took over the mandolin with Pine Mountain Railroad.

Cody sings lead, tenor, and baritone and is a very talented songwriter. He can also play guitar.

In April 2006, Cody married Marianne and moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. In September 2006, Cody took over the management of Pine Mountain Railroad and is in the midst of readying the band’s first national release under his tenure, Alone with Forever.

Cody has appeared on WSM’s Grand Ole Opry with Raymond Fairchild and has been an overnight guest in the home of Jimmy Martin. He owns the publishing rights to one of the all time favorites, Hit Parade of Love.



Bill McBee
Halls Crossroads, TN

Growing up, bill developed a love for southern gospel music and the harmonies of shaped-note singing at church. At home, it was bluegrass, learned from the music of his family, who picked and sang in Claiborne County, TN.

Bill joined Pine Mountain Railroad in early 2001 and has performed all over the USA and eastern Canada. He has appeared on five of their records. Bill currently plays a 1939 Kay Orchestra model bass. In addition to playing bass and contributing bass vocals, Bill handles media and marketing issues for the band.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Bill is a retired federal agent, with almost 30-years’ service. He currently owns a private investigations firm and is a certified fraud expert. Bill & Katherine have five children, four grandchildren, and a fifth on the way. He enjoys motorcycling and kayaking. He is a Viet-Nam Veteran of the US Army (‘69-’70).



Matt Flake
Leitchfield, KY

Matt has been a member of Pine Mountain Railroad since October 2004. “Scooter”, as he is known, began playing the mandolin when he was nine. About a year later, he began taking fiddle lessons from Jesse Haycraft.

Matt previously played music with Blue Tradition, a Kentucky bluegrass band that won championships in both Kentucky and Indiana. Individually, Matt has won state championships in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana on three different instruments: Mandolin, Fiddle, and Guitar. Currently, Matt plays a custom-made John silakowski five-string fiddle. He also contributes baritone and bass vocals.

In his free time, Matt enjoys playing guitar and bass. He is also a good shot with a pool cue, according to sources, and enjoys a friendly game every now and then with his buddies.




Eli Johnston
Knoxville, TN

Eli was born and raised in Treece, Kansas, a small town near Columbus, Kansas. In his high school days, Eli played baseball, football, and wrestled. In his junior year, Eli’s family moved to Branson, Missouri. Eli was taught the guitar by his Grandpa Joe and improved his skills by attending jam sessions, pickin parties, and festivals with his dad.

At about age fifteen, Eli began playing bass and banjo. Soon his pickin opportunities began occurring all over Missouri and Arkansas as he and his dad traveled to more and more festivals. Eli’s first musical gig was at the Shepherd of the Hills Theater in Branson, Missouri. Before long, he got an audition with the Nothin’ Fancy Band, where he became their bass player for most of 2006.

In October 2006, Eli joined Pine Mountain Railroad as the lead guitarist. He also contributes baritone, lead, and tenor vocals.



Elmer C. Burchett, Jr.
Berea, KY.

Elmer joined Pine Mountain Railroad in late-2006 and brought with him one of the most sought-after tone and taste combinations in bluegrass banjo. He also sings baritone, lead, and tenor vocals. A prolific writer, Elmer has been inspired by many great songwriters.

He has been in several outstanding bands such as Rambler’s Choice, Wyatt Rice &Santa Cruz, Dale AnnBradley, and David Parmley & Continental Divide. Elmer has shared the stage with many performers including Lou Reid, Ronnie Bowman, Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, Clyde & Marie Denny, and Gary Brewer.

Elmer has two daughters, Haley and Molly. Elmer has yet another Mollie – this one his fiancé. They are presently planning a wedding in 2008. Mollie is set to graduate from Eastern Kentucky University soon.



Mark Cable
Tuskeegee, NC

A member of Pine Mountain Railroad since October 2006, Mark grew up listening to bluegrass music. Mark plays rhythm guitar and sings lead, tenor, and high baritone. Mark and Sabrina have two children, Destinee and Samuel.

Mark is an avid deer hunter; his passion is bow hunting. When not hunting, Mark loves to be with his family, attending church, and hanging out with friends. Mark has sung with several bands and southern gospel groups, among them the Smoky Mountain Boys, based in North Carolina. An unbelievably gifted vocalist, Mark is a true Christian gives God the credit for his accomplishments.

Mark is currently in the process to obtain his electrician’s license and will continue building houses with his dad whenever he’s not on the road with PMRR.

reviews

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  • Alone with Forever
    author: barbara kiser

    We got the cd promptly and it played perfectly. Thank you very much.

  • awesome
    author: Marianne Rogerson

    the cd's are totally awesome, can't stop playing them , every song is as good as the last.certainly won't regret buying them.

  • bluegrass excellence
    author: Elton Wiltshire

    G'day! My wife and I (I'm a pastor in a small country town in Australia) have been Pine Mountain Railroad fans for a couple of years now since we discovered 'bluegrass' while visiting our son in Pittsburg. This CD is up to your usual great standard - thanks for many hours of great listening.

  • author: Tamara Turner, CD Baby

    Singing out from Knoxville, Tennessee, this nationally-respected bluegrass wonder, Pine Mountain Railroad, tours internationally for festivals, concerts and performance venues of all sizes. Having re-formed in Fall of 2006, the 8-year old band now sports some of bluegrass music's choice instrumentalists and vocalists; and it’s certainly no surprise upon hearing their crystal clear harmonies, as taut as a fiddle’s sweet ringing E-string. Delivering some classic originals and an armful of brilliant originals, Alone with Forever, the band’s seventh album, is a welcome follow-up to their critically-acclaimed, previous album which not only found itself among the Top 10 Bluegrass Albums of 2006 but also delivered four songs to the national charts. What makes this group stand out amongst hundreds of others? Right from the get-go, these boys hit the ground running with tangible electricity and emotion so physically palpable that you can’t soak it in quickly enough. Not only do their vocals stand out as some of the most impressive in the business, but that talent is absolutely matched by the agility and precision, clarity and freedom of the instrumental backing. With technique so razor-sharp, they are all the more able to fling the door open to their own expression within these songs, delivering a performance that is dynamically playful and celebratory and likely to make a dancer out of the most sour man or woman in the audience. If you classify yourself as a bluegrass or traditional music fan, buy one for the house and another for the car, then stash another one or two for safe storage when the first wear out.

  • Distinctive allure, charisma and personality
    author: Joe Ross

    Playing Time – 35:28 -- During their nine years in existence, Pine Mountain Railroad has released seven albums. And what’s very gratifying is that each one has its own distinctive allure, charisma and personality. While the band has had personnel changes over the years, they consistently produce professional contemporary bluegrass that has won them considerable recognition from the International Bluegrass Music Association, California Bluegrass Association, and others who know what elements are needed to produce quality music. The latest new direction for the band is to become a six-piece unit with Cody Shuler (mandolin), Bill McBee (bass), Matt Flake (fiddle), Mark Cable (guitar), Eli Johnston (guitar), and Elmer Burchett (banjo). All band members contribute vocals, and they also continue to emphasize sturdy original material. Besides the one-minute theme from their sponsor (Odom’s Tennesse Pride), their only covers on this project are Wilma Jo Tomblin’s “Two Shoes,” James Shuler’s “Heaven’s Greeting,” and one of my favorites (that always reminds me of Jim & Jesse) – Hod Pharis’ “I Heard the Bluebirds Sing” sung here with spirit as a trio and shared breaks built around the chorus. The original songs on “Alone With Forever,” presented in a warm, conversational manner, recall sweetly wistful remembrances and nostalgically-tinged memories. Their musical moods are varied, largely as a result of having four gifted lead vocalists. The mournfully sweet vocalizing in “Awful Lonesome Train” is a personal preference. Pine Mountain Railroad tastefully renders moderately tempo’ed pieces that are unpretentious. They earn accolades for their arrangements that enhance rather than overpower. It’s radio-friendly material for bluegrass programs with an acoustic country bent. It would be striking to hear these consummate pickers and singers occasionally turn up the throttle to inject their music with even more energy and really shake things up. Perhaps some of that could have been remedied by including a hard-driving instrumental in the set. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

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