Reviewed by Dave Brassington

This fabulous DVD was recorded in a studio designed to give the feel of a rustic back porch and country barn with most of the star-studded performers dressed in jeans or other casual wear and the whole tone of the recordings very relaxed. After two excellent DVDs of gospel bluegrass several years ago, I always expected that Bill Gaither would come up with a country gospel set of albums but this has only partially come true this time as apart from the great George Jones and Vince Gill, most of these artists are performing bluegrass or Southern gospel. Reading between the lines, it appears that Marty Stuart has been instrumental in putting a lot of this two volume project together and throughout this DVD Marty & His Fabulous Superlatives are heavily featured plus Marty is interviewed at some length by Bill Gaither. Fans of the Gaithers will be already very familiar with Buddy Greene, The Isaacs, Gordon Mote and Jeff And Sheri Easter, but new groups such as The Cherryholmes, Jimmy Fortune, Dailey And Vincent make their appearance here. The great Ralph Stanley is featured on several tracks. The pick of the DVD is a very powerful version of "Walking My Lord Up Calvary Hill" from Rhonda Vincent And The Rage, a fantastic acappella version of the old song "Mary Don't You Weep" by The Cherryholmes and then the two closing tracks featuring Vince Gill, "All Prayed Up" and the powerful and very moving song he wrote about the death of his brother "Go Rest High On That Mountain". Vince is very movingly interviewed by Bill Gaither about this. Some may quibble about the sound quality and certainly the balance between the voices and instruments isn't always right, but this is still a fine release.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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