The national music scene took notice of
Del McCoury in 1999 when he and his band collaborated with country-punk icon Steve Earle, making the time right for some reissues and compilations. This collection is a good place to start. My Dixie Home compiles tracks originally released on various Rebel albums between 1974 and 1984 (along with one previously unreleased effort, the inessential "Call Collect on Christmas"); the plurality of selections comes from the excellent Sawmill album, which featured banjo player Paul Silvius (later a member of Joe Val's New England Bluegrass Boys), as well as
McCoury's young son,
Ronnie, already a fine mandolinist by this point. But the main attraction, of course, is
McCoury's voice, a sharp and nasal whine that pierces the soul on hardcore traditional numbers like "My Dixie Home" and "White House Blues." This collection finds
McCoury at the top of his form, and when he's at his best there are few bluegrass singers better. ~ Rick Anderson