Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"Highlander" Born in Short Gap, West Virginia, the Grammy-nominated Missy Raines is one of the most legendary bluegrass musicians on the planet. A ten-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association Bass Player of the Year and the first woman to win the award--a feat nobody has even come close to--Raines is a virtuoso musician who plays with unmatched dexterity and heart. She's not just a bass player--she's a singer, songwriter, teacher, sideman, and bandleader as well. Raines started her career at a very young age but what's really interesting is that she started her solo career in 1998 nearly twenty years after touring non-stop and making records with Cloud Valley, Mac Wiseman, and Bill Evans. Raines' new album Highlander is a stirring song-cycle dedicated to her native soil--is it a concept album about West Virginia? Well, kind of, but more accurately, it's a tip of the hat to the textured nuances of rural Appalachia. Produced by the marvelous Alison Brown, Highlander is a musical tribute to