Top 10 Essential CDs

Hello from Fairbanks, Alaska, Mike. I'm the person (or at least one of the people) that Patty Clayton was talking about when she said that people in Fairbanks hed heard her songs on your show. My name is Ryan Bowers. I play bass and sing bluegrass up here. Just this last Saturday, I played bass for Patty when she had her CD release concert in Fairbanks.

Here's my own attempt at a "Top 10" list. I guess I will count double CDs as one, because it's still one recording that just couldn't fit on one disc. I mean, some recordings that were originally released as two vinyl records have been re-released as a single CD. If it comes as two CDs in the same case, then I'm counting it as one. If it exists as two seperate volumes, then I'm counting that as two.

DISCLAIMER: These are arranged in alphabetical order, which by no means reflects how good they are. They're all the cream of the crop, anyway, so it doesn't really matter what order I put them in.

1. Alison Krauss - Too Late To Cry
2. Alison Kraus + Union Staition - [LIVE]
3. Bluegrass Album Band - Vol. 1
4. Bluegrass Album Band - Vol. 2
5. Blue Highway - Lonesome Pine
6. Del McCoury, Doc Watson & Mac Wiseman - Mac Doc & Del
7. Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver - You Gotta' Dig A Little Deeper
8. Good Ol' Persons - Part of a Story
9. Hot Rize - Untold Stories
10. Hot Rize - So Long Of A Journey
11. New Grass Revival - Grass Roots: The Best Of New Grass Revival
12. Nickel Creek - This Side
13. Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen - Out Of The Woodwork
14. Seldom Scene - 20th Anniversary Concert [LIVE]
15. Seldom Scene - Live At The Cellar Door
16. Seldom Scene - Different Roads
17. The Del McCoury Band - Del And The Boys
18. The Del McCoury Band - It's Just The Night
19. Various Artists - Bean Blossom [LIVE]
20. Various Artists - Bluegrass Mountain Style
21. Various Artists - O Sister: A Women's Bluegrass Collection
22. Various Artists - O Sister 2

OK so if you really want to get technical about it, this isn't actually 10 CDs, but they're all so good, I couldn't cut any of them. I guess I'm no better than you are the brutal task of culling. There are so many good recordings out there, and even this list limits the selections to only recordings that I personally own.

I Hope this is helpful to the listener who was asking about it.

-=[Ryan]=-

p.s.: An Important one that I almost forgot:

23.) Laurie Lewis & Kathy Kallick – Together

Man, I really am bad at cutting it down to 10!