High Lonesome Cowboy (Shanachie, 2002)

The album title is more than appropriate on this album bringing together former Blue Grass Boy Peter Rowan, with one of the leading proponents of western music, Don Edwards. The result is a delightful collection of mostly traditional cowboy tunes that blend the vocal and instrumental efforts of these two roots music giants in a very pleasing and entertaining way.

Favorites here include the classics, "The Old Chisholm Trail," "Goodbye Old Paint" and "Reno Blues(Philadelphia Lawyer)" as well as Bill Monroe's "Midnight On The Stormy Deep" and Maybelle Carter's "Buddies In the Saddle." Edwards and Rowan are joined by a stellar 'posse' of back-up players using bluegrass instrumentation, including Norman and Nancy Blake (who do a wonderful job on the instrumental, "The Old Grey Mare Came Tearing Out Of the Wilderness"), Tony Rice and Billy and Bryn Bright.

At a time when collaborations between artists of different genres is more and more common, this album deserves to stand out. Neither Rowan nor Edwards is the star here. Rather it's the blending of their talents that breathes new life into some pretty familiar songs pointing out the common ground between western music and bluegrass.