If great pickin' and fiddlin' is the foundation for classic bluegrass, then rich vocals is the heart and soul. In the tradition of bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe or Carter and Ralph Stanley, James King is set to carry that high and lonesome spirit of bluegrass into the 21st century.
   Lonesome And Then Some, King's followup to his Rounder debut album These Old Pictures, solidly entrenches the Martinsville, VA native into the national bluegrass scene.
   Dudley Connell, lead singer of the Johnson Mountain Boys, once again teams upwith King for some stunning duets, including "Crazy Heart," "A Few Old Memories," the Vince Gill classic "When I Call Your Name," and Red Allen's "I Beg To You."
   Paying homage to some of his musical hero's, King also covers Hylo Brown's "Lovesick And Sorrow," and George Jones' "When The Phone Don't Ring, It'll Be Me."
   Liner notes from Lonesome And Then Some sums King up best: "James King is a great singer, one of the best of his generation. He's the real dal, the kind of singer that makes bluegrass what it so gloriously is."

-Charlton Wiggins