Bluegrass Breakdown: Bluegrass Williams

It’s a name that means “resolute protection.” Introduced to England in 1066, for over four hundred years it’s been second only to John as the most popular boys name in the English-speaking world. Thanks to Gary Brewer, Kristy Cox, Evan Marshall, the Urban Monroes and Berline, Crary & Hickman, we’ll be giving the name William the fawning bluegrassical attention it deserves.

PROGRAM PLAYLIST

• Alice Zincone & Rick LaFleur: “Ballad of William McKinney” from Mama’s Voice(Fleur-De Lis Music)
• The Urban Monroes; “William’s Still Alive” from Bits and Pieces(Mountain Sky Media)
• Berline, Crary & Hickman: “William Socrates” from Berline, Crary & Hickman(Sugar Hill)
• Kristy Cox: “William Henry Johnson” from Part of Me(Pisgah Ridge)
• Dead Man’s Hollow: “William and Annie” from Death Must Be a Woman(Acoustic Americana)
• Gerald Evans & Paradise: “William the Great” from Getting It Done(Legend)
• The Homestead Act: “Ballad of William Sycamore” from Playin’ Possum(Kim-Pat)
• Evan Marshall: “William Tell Overture” from Lone Arranger(Rounder)
• Niall Toner: “William Smith Monroe” from Onwards and Upwards(Pinecastle)
• Gary Brewer: “Old William Smith” from Memories of Home(Cowan Creek)
• Acoustic Endeavors: “Young William” from On a Farm(Common Folk)
• The Nothin’ Doin’ Band: “Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now” from The Nothin’ Doin’ Band(self-released)
• O’Brien, Powell & Herrmann: “Fair Margaret and Sweet William” from Songs From the Mountain(Howdy Skies)
• The Mammals: “Father William” from Rock That Babe(Signature Sounds)
• Hog-Eyed Man: “William Reilly” from 2(Yodel-Ay-Hee)