This is a recording project that was overdue for several reasons: It’s my first all-bluegrass studio release in several years, and it’s my first full “band project” in over 10 years. I’ve had the good fortune to enjoy a relatively stable band in recent years, no doubt due to the lavish paychecks I give out (brief pause for howls of laughter). Jon Weisberger and Ned Luberecki have played with me for over 6 years, and I’ve never enjoyed playing music more than I have with those guys. It took us a while to get in the studio, though, because my first release after they joined was a live album for the Strictly Country label in the Netherlands (though Jon and Ned did play on the bonus track of that album, “Diesel Smoke on Danger Road”). After that I signed with Little Dog Records in LA (with whom I’m still signed) and I recorded “Too Far Down the Road”, produced by the Grammy-winning producer, Pete Anderson. Though there were bluegrass elements to the CD, some of it was pretty straight ahead country (but in a Pete Anderson kind of way). Pete Anderson and Little Dog were nice enough to let us record this project on the side. I produced it myself, but I couldn’t have done it without the expertise of engineer Ben Surratt and the creative contributions of the other Night Drivers. For full bios of all the band members, visit the “about” page.

We’d like to give special thanks to: Pete Anderson and Little Dog Records, Dave and Mark Freeman and Rebel Records, Myron Jones, Sally and Joanna Jones, Kelley Luberecki, Mary McDermott, Deb, Leo and Sidney Weisberger, Darrin Vincent, Lisa Jacobi and Curmudgeon Café. Melinda Meers, The Jones, Luberecki, Weisberger, Stoffel, Till, Maxwell, Block, and Balderston families, Rolf and Monika Nef and Elektronef AG, Tom T. and Dixie Hall, Sarah Balderston, Rob, Jen and all the Ickes family, Terry Herd, Dr. Terry Comer and the Comer family, St. Paul’s, Franklin, TN, Sirius XM Satellite Radio, Kyle Cantrell, Joey Black, Steve Popovich, Joyce Rizer, Fabrice Mejia, Gwendolyn Van Leer, and Mitchells Deli.

Chris Jones plays Gallagher Guitars; Ned Luberecki plays a Deering banjo and a Robin Smith Heartland banjo on this recording. Chris and Ned use Blue Chip Picks. Chris Jones & The Night Drivers use GHS Strings. Jon Weisberger endorses Appenzeller cheese.

Darrin Vincent appears courtesy of Rounder Records
Jeremy Garrett appears courtesy of Sugar Hill Records
Shawn Lane appears courtesy of Rounder Records

Recorded and mixed by Ben Surratt at Rec Room Studio, Nashville, TN
Mastered by Yes Master, Nashville, TN
Photography by Michael Witcher
Produced by Chris Jones

1. THE LOVE SHE LEFT BEHIND (Chris Jones/Gal Sal Music BMI)
Chris Jones guitar, lead vocal
Ned Luberecki banjo
Mark Stoffel mandolin
Jon Weisberger bass
Michael Witcher dobro
Sally Jones harmony vocal
Darrin Vincent harmony vocal

Probably the most common question of any songwriting workshop (and usually the first question) is: “Do you write the words or the music first?” I think people keep asking this question because songwriters, myself included, never give a very satisfying answer to it , usually saying that it depends, or that it’s usually never one or the other. Well, in the case of this song, I can actually say that I had only a rough concept of what the song was about, then wrote all the music and added the words later. There. Thanks for coming to the workshop. Be sure to catch our show on the main stage at 8:30. Darrin Vincent and my wife Sally did a wonderful job on the harmony vocals. and Mike Witcher played great dobro on this. Mike played a European tour with us a couple of years ago, and he also doubled as the photographer for the project (he does great work by the way, which you can check out at www.michaelwitcher.com).

LYRICS
I’m thinking now it’s always been the way that I’ve wrestled with the time
Trying to drag the minutes out meanwhile the hours are flying by
And I see your eyes in the watch’s face
The beauty that I can’t erase
Oh, I don’t care if I heal
No plan I’m just going by feel

As I’m drifting along, heart soul and mind
Caught up in the memory of the love she left behind
A quiet voice I barely knew told me it was wrong to fall so hard
That was when you touched my hand and all defenses fell apart
Now before I rise to the morning grey
Let me cling to one more yesterday
Oh, I don’t care if I heal
No plan I’m just going by feel

As I’m drifting along, heart soul and mind
Caught up in the memory of the love she left behind

2. CLOUD OF DUST (Chris Jones/Gal Sal Music BMI)
Chris Jones guitar, lead and baritone vocals
Ned Luberecki banjo
Mark Stoffel mandolin
Aaron Till fiddle, tenor vocal
Jon Weisberger bass

This song is meant to be optimistic (if that’s allowed in bluegrass), trying to capture that feeling of finally making an overdue decision and looking forward to a new and free tomorrow. There’s also night driving involved.

LYRICS:
I ALWAYS TRIED TO BE THE PATIENT ONE
AND SEE IT THROUGH TO THE END
I WAS SLOW TO SEE A LOVE GONE WRONG
FACE THE CARDS IN MY HAND

BUT THERE COMES A TIME TO CASH IT IN
AND TAKE A DIFFERENT TRACK
THAT TIME FOR ME JUST CAME TODAY
AND I’M NEVER LOOKING BACK

I’VE FINALLY HAD ENOUGH FOOLISH GAMES
PAIN AND BROKEN TRUST
TONIGHT I LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND
IN A CLOUD OF DUST

YOU KNOW SOMETIMES IT’S HARD TO READ THE SIGNS
OR HEAR THAT STILL, SMALL VOICE
WE CAN BUILD OUR OWN PRISON WALLS
AND FORGET WE’VE GOT A CHOICE

DRIVING UNDER THIS MOUNTAIN MOON
THE WORLD NEVER LOOKED SO BRIGHT
DAWN WILL BREAK ON GREENER FIELDS
A NEW LIFE STARTS TONIGHT

I’VE FINALLY HAD ENOUGH FOOLISH GAMES
PAIN AND BROKEN TRUST
TONIGHT I LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND
IN A CLOUD OF DUST

3. WHAT YOU DO (Chris Jones/Gal Sal Music, BMI)

Chris Jones guitar, lead and baritone vocals
Ned Luberecki banjo
Mark Stoffel mandolin
Jon Weisberger bass
Mike Witcher dobro
Jeremy Garrett tenor vocal

I drew on some pain in my own life to point out that we have the capacity to deal with pain and adversity beyond what we thought we were capable of, simply because we must, and in doing so we tap into strength that’s deep and divine that we didn’t know was there or available to us. We really enjoyed playing this one; some of the arrangement and feel just came together spontaneously in the studio. Mike Witcher does the fine dobro playing on this.

LYRICS:
You know life’s troubles they’ll come to call
Uninvited, with no word at all
Your walls start crumbling all around
In the darkness you reach out for solid ground

So you’ve been handed too much to bear
You’ve got no words, just a silent prayer
Then you find strength you never knew
You journey on, it’s what you do
You don’t know how but you’ll be fine
Drawing deep from that well divine

And though the pain may stay with you
You’ll walk that rugged road
It’s what you do
I said goodbye to my flesh and blood
Grief was a hailstorm, a mighty flood

Embraced by loved ones, still all alone
The life I once knew had come and gone
In war-torn lands, behind prison bars
are greater burdens and deeper scars
Through spirit strong, somehow they too
Will face the dawn, it’s what you do

You don’t know how, but you’ll be fine
Drawing deep from that well divine
And though the pain may stay with you
You’ll walk that rugged road
It’s what you do

4. I’D RATHER LOVE YOU (Johnny Duncan/Universal Songs of Polygram int’l)
Chris Jones guitar, lead vocal
Ned Luberecki banjo
Mark Stoffel mandolin
Jon Weisberger bass
Mike Witcher dobro
Sally Jones harmony vocal
Darrin Vincent harmony vocal

This is a classic country song that was an early 70s hit for Charley Pride, one of my favorite country singers. It was written by the late Johnny Duncan, also a country singer that I used to do a passable imitation of (I don’t get a lot of calls for it). I later found out that we both worked at the same radio station, WAKM (the former WAGG) in Franklin, TN. I used to sing this song before shows as a vocal exercise and warm-up because it’s so rangy. But I did it mainly because I’ve always loved the song. I called again on the outstanding harmony duo of Sally and Darrin for this (“Sally and Vincent”?). They have sung together on 3 previous CDs of mine. Sally is immensely talented as a vocalist and I feel honored any time her voice graces a recording of mine. While we do select shows together throughout the year, she is an artist and songwriter in her own right, with her own distinctive style and material. Her most recent CD, “Songs About Us”, was the first release on GSM Records (available at www.sallyjones.net). Darrin has become legendary as a harmony singer with good reason. Darrin is not only a great singer and musician, he’s one of the finest people I know in the business. I was there the day he auditioned for Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder in Richmond, KY (we were both playing with Jennifer McCarter at the time), and it’s been gratifying to watch all that has happened since. He deserves all of the success he currently enjoys with Dailey and Vincent.

LYRICS:
If tonight should be our last night together
I’m not sorry that we fell in love at all
If tomorrow’s sun should find me hurtin’ for you I know
That the price for loving you would still be small

Chorus:
For I’d never know the thrill of your sweet lips
And the chills I get just knowing that you’re mine
‘cause I’d spend my life not knowing what real love is, oh no
Though I’d be hurtin’
I’m still certain
That I’d rather love and lose you than never know your love at all.

For I’d never know the thrill of your sweet lips
And the chills I get just knowing that you’re mine
For I’d spend my life not knowing what real love is, oh no
Though I’d be hurtin’
I’m still certain
That I’d rather love and lose you, than never know your love at all.
That I’d rather love and lose you, than never know your love at all

5. COLD LONESOME NIGHT (Jon Weisberger, Steven Mougin/Use Your Words Music, BMI; Timberdoodle Tunes, ASCAP)

Jon, who recently released a CD of his own songs (If This Road Could Talk), co-wrote this one with Steven Mougin, who’s also a great musician and singer. For some reason I got the somewhat strange idea to modulate from E to G (it might have been something I ate), but it seemed to work (or at least no one has been able to tell me otherwise to my face). This was among the first few songs that we recorded for the project. All was going well until I slipped on some icy steps and broke my arm. Needless to say this delayed the project several months. Thanks to Dr. Reed in Hinton, Alberta, the orthopedic surgeon who worked on the arm (I asked him to rebuild it to make it like Bryan Sutton’s left arm, but he said I didn’t have that level of insurance plan).

Chris Jones guitar, lead vocal
Ned Luberecki banjo
Mark Stoffel mandolin
Aaron Till fiddle
Jon Weisberger bass
Darrin Vincent tenor vocal

6. ONE DOOR AWAY (Tom T. Hall, Dixie Hall/Good Home Grown Music, BMI)

Chris Jones guitar, lead vocal
Ned Luberecki banjo
Mark Stoffel mandolin
Jon Weisberger bass

Aside from their incredible legacy as songwriters, Tom T. and Dixie are true friends, and I was pleased and honored to have a chance to record this new prison song of theirs. Look for a video of this one. There are plans for us to perform it in an upcoming movie directed by Tom T. I live the line, “I can’t see the stars through these cold steel bars, can’t feel the wind on my face.”

LYRICS:
I’M ONE DOOR AWAY FROM GOING HOME
ONE DAY AWAY FROM BEING GONE
WHEN I WALK OUT THAT DOOR
I’LL BE GOING HOME TO STAY
AND I’M ONLY ONE DOOR AWAY

THEY’VE HAD ME LOCKED
IN THIS DIRTY OLD CELL
IT’S JAILHOUSE DOOR SET IN STONE
NOW MY DEBT IS PAID FOR THAT TIME I STRAYED

I’M ONE DOOR AWAY FROM GOING HOME
I’LL TRY TO BELIEVE
TIL I GET THERE AND SEE
THEY TELL ME MY GIRL WOULDN’T WAIT

BUT FAITH IN HER WORD IS A LESSON I’VE LEARNED
WILL LIGHTEN THE DARKNESS AWAY
I’M ONE DOOR AWAY FROM GOING HOME
ONE DAY AWAY FROM BEING GONE
WHEN I WALK OUT THAT DOOR
I’LL BE GOING HOME TO STAY
AND I’M ONLY ONE DOOR AWAY

I CAN’T SEE THE STARS
THROUGH THESE COLD STEEL BARS
CAN’T FEEL THE WIND ON MY FACE
THERE’LL BE CLEAR BLUE SKIES WHEN THAT
DOOR SWINGS WIDE
AND I KNOW I’M OUT OF THIS PLACE

NEXT TIME IT CLOSES
IT WON’T BE ON ME
I’LL BE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
FREE AS A BIRD AND I WON’T SAY A WORD
NO ONE WILL KNOW WHERE I’VE BEEN

REPEAT CHORUS

7. FLAT CREEK (Chris Jones/Gal Sal Music BMI)
Chris Jones guitar, lead and baritone vocals
Ned Luberecki banjo
Mark Stoffel mandolin
Jon Weisberger bass
Jeremy Garrett fiddle, tenor vocal

There’s a small community in the beautiful hills of southern Williamson County, Tennessee called Flat Creek, where they have an annual chitlin supper, which is a very popular event drawing people of all ages, local musicians, politicians and anyone, who appreciates the finer points of eating “lower on the hog”. I couldn’t find a good rhyme for “chitlin”, so I left that part out, but it’s the event I was thinking of when I referred to “local gatherings”. If you’re not a chitlin eater (and it’s okay to admit it if you aren’t), feel free to picture ice cream instead (Flat Creek also holds an icecream supper).

LYRICS:
By a stream too small to call a river
There’s a place too small to call a town
For some just a dot on a roadmap
But for me it still is hallowed ground

I left 4 years ago in April
For a job I knew I had to take
Now each day I stare out an office window
Three states and 15 floors away

But Flat Creek is all that I picture
When I close my eyes to dream
A few years ago I was young there
I can’t believe how long ago that seems

There’s the hall where they held the local gatherings
That’s where I first met her eyes
We held hands under the table
While fiddles played into the night

Deep down I knew she’d find another
Still it didn’t hurt to dream just the same
Now she’s got a son and a daughter
Some day I’ll get used to her last name

8. SILENT GOODBYE (CHRIS JONES, JON WEISBERGER/GAL SAL MUSIC BMI, USE YOUR WORDS MUSIC BMI)

Chris Jones guitar, lead and baritone vocals
Ned Luberecki banjo
Mark Stoffel mandolin
Jon Weisberger bass
Megan Lynch fiddle
Darrin Vincent tenor vocal
Shawn Lane high baritione

Jon and Ned are the official “techies” of the band. They can often be found uploading something on a laptop, while downloading something else on to a handheld device, all guided by GPS, naturally. So it was fitting that in this co-writing effort with Jon (our first), most of the work was done by exchanging emails and sound files, even if we were in the same room. Who knew that feelings could be electronically transmitted (I think there’s an additional monthly charge for that). Thanks to our good friend Megan Lynch for the great fiddle playing. Megan is a versatile musician who plays bluegrass, country, and is a national contest winner in Texas-style fiddling. She also runs an airport shuttle service for half of our band on the side. Shawn Lane’s beautiful high baritone part was the last thing we recorded on the album. I had always wanted to sing something with Shawn in the studio, and it happened that Blue Highway had just finished a photo shoot in Nashville on the day I was going to sing a baritone part on this song myself. I called him, and on very short notice, he came in and transformed the chorus of this song.

LYRICS:
You never were much for talking
When it came to affairs of the heart
You kept it all under the surface
Afraid it might tear you apart

But today I’m hearing the message
an unspoken but crystal clear choice
Cause actions speak louder than words do
I guess you finally found your voice

Now you look at me like you don’t know me
A stranger you passed in the night
Now the only thing breaking the stillness
Is the sound of your silent goodbye
The sound of your silent goodbye

Before I knew that you’d started you’d built the strongest of walls
And now I can’t even see over, are you even there at all.
And I knew it would have been painful
If you had just let the words fly
But nothing could hurt more than hearing
The sound of your silent goodbye
The sound of your silent goodbye

9. LAST NAIL (CHRIS JONES/GAL SAL MUSIC BMI)

Chris Jones guitar, lead and baritone vocals

Ned Luberecki banjo
Jon Weisberger bass
Mike Compton mandolin
Jeremy Garrett fiddle, tenor vocal

This is the only song that’s a “recut” of an earlier song of mine. It was on the now out-of-print Just a Drifter album that I did for Rebel Records on 2001 (the two bonus tracks on this album came from that release too). I felt we might end up with a stronger recording of it, thanks to the tightness that comes with playing together for 6 years, and I thought that Jeremy, that we also played with before the formation of the Infamous Stringdusters, would add just the right feel on the fiddle and tenor part. He did. This is Mike Compton’s only guest appearance on this project. He played on the original version, and I thought it was one of the high points of that recording, so I thought it would be great to bring him back to do more of the same…only different. Mike was technically an original member of The Night Drivers, along with John Pennell and banjo player Doug Knecht.

Years ago, my Uncle Bob (a banjo player who has had his share of wanderlust too) said “I can’t seem to drive the last nail” while showing me around his cabin he’d built in the Finger Lakes area of New York State. That phrase stuck with me, and about 15 years later I wrote the song.

LYRICS:
I built a cabin twelve miles out of town
One more attempt to settle down
I try so hard to finish what I start
But the final board lies waiting for my change of heart

I can’t seem to drive the last nail
Try to hold the hammer steady, but still I always fail
And I just let my wanderlust prevail
I can’t seem to drive the last nail

I finally bought her ring the other day
And by candlelight I found the words to say
She knew me well enough to be surprised
And understand the look of fear in my eyes

‘Cause I can’t seem to drive the last nail
But she gave me her faith and I feel like I can’t fail
And I won’t let my wanderlust prevail
This time I’m going to drive the last nail

The jeweller thought he’d never make the sale
Cause it’s so hard to drive the last nail

10. DRAW FOR FIVE (CHRIS JONES, NED LUBERECKI/GAL SAL MUSIC, BMI)

Chris Jones guitar,
Ned Luberecki banjo
Mark Stoffel mandolin
Aaron Till fiddle
Jon Weisberger bass

Ned and I wrote this banjo tune together. To my knowledge it’s the first bluegrass instrumental with a title drawn from lingo from the ice sport of curling, a sport I play when I spend lots of the winter in northern Alberta. In that sport, a “draw for five” happens when a team already has four stones closer to “the button” than the other team, and on the final rock, the skip just needs to draw in close enough to get a fifth stone closer to the button too to represent the fifth point, the “draw for five”. There now, doesn’t that make complete sense? I think you know why the number 5 works for a banjo tune. This is tune is dedicated to the memory of Butch Baldassari. It previously appeared on a recent tribute album to Butch.

11. COWBOYS AIN’T SUPPOSED TO CRY (Owen Jack Douglas, Jr../Sony ATV/Acuff Rose, BMI)

Chris Jones guitar, guitar solo, lead vocal
Ron Block lead guitar
Rob Ickes dobro
Irl Hees bass
Dan Tyminski mandolin
Sally Jones harmony vocal
Darrin Vincent harmony vocal

This is one of two bonus tracks on the CD, taken from my third CD I did for Rebel Records called Just a Drifter, which is now out of print. We get a lot of requests for both bonus track songs, so I wanted to be able to keep them available in CD form. Thanks to the great people at Rebel Records for making this possible. This is originally a Moe Bandy song from the 1970s. Just to be ornery, we put it in the key of Db, which is even harder to play in than C#.

12. COME ON LITTLE CHILDREN (P.D.)

Chris Jones guitar, lead vocal
Ned Luberecki banjo, bass vocalMark Stoffel mandolin
Jon Weisberger bass, baritone vocal
Sally Jones tenor vocal

We had to work in a gospel quartet on the album, and this is a favorite of mine that I learned from a Ralph Stanley recording.We used to do this one back when I played in a band called Whetstone Run with Lynn Morris, Marshall Wilborn and Lee Olsen, but we never recorded it. Mark Stoffel was originally supposed to sing the tenor part, but he broke his nose right before the session. I don’t know the details of how it happened, so let’s say he broke it apprehending a bank robber in Carbonale, IL. That works for me. Thanks to Sally (and her unbroken nose) for filling in and singing the part.

13. PRETTY SARO (P.D.)

This is the other bonus track, also from Just a Drifter. I learned this song from Doc Watson who sang it a capella. I wondered how it would sound with an instrumental part. Thanks to Tim O’Brien for adding just the right flavor to this song.
Chris Jones guitars, lead vocal
Tim O’Brien tenor vocal, fiddle
Irl Hees bass

14. BLUEGRASS DJs 1:33 (Chris Jones/Gal Sal Music, BMI)

Chris Jones guitar, lead vocal
Ned Luberecki banjo
Mark Stoffel mandolin
Jon Weisberger bass
Ben Surratt turntable

Okay, this one’s kind of stupid, but we really enjoyed it. It was meant as a parody of songs trying to shamelessly pander to bluegrass radio, so we thought, who better to pander to bluegrass DJs than bluegrass DJs? Not only are Ned and I part of the team at Sirius-XM’s Bluegrass Junction, but so is Jon Weisberger, who is the producer of the Hand Picked with Del show. The idea is that DJs, especially in commercial radio, have often found themselves in need of a really short song to back time into the news or the sports report, or whatever the next to-the-second deadline is. At my previous radio job, I relied on Elvis Presley’s “I Got Stung” (1:48) a time or two (not during a bluegrass show, needless to say). So I guess this is our radio in-joke. DJ’s, watch out for the false ending. This song is actually longer than 1:33!