This Virginia band was at its peak when it recorded this record that won the coveted IBMA Album of The Year award in 1990 and can surely be called one of the landmark albums in the recent history of the Bluegrass music genre. The group --organized by Tim Austin --had already made a name for itself with its previous Rebel album, "Looking For Yourself" which featured the singing of Dan Tyminski. But on Carrying The Tradition the band had added Ronnie Bowman, so that it featured two of the best vocalists in Bluegrass, along with a hard-driving yet smooth sound that appealed very strongly to fans of both traditional and contemporary Bluegrass. (Tyminski's and Bowman's alternate leads on SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD became a classic, influential device for many young bands, as did their entire energetic sound). With good dobro work by Kim Gardner, fine fiddling by Bobby Hicks, Alison Krauss and Steve Thomas, and the hard-driving banjo of the award-winning Sammy Shelor, this album has become a "must-have" among followers of the Bluegrass scene of the past 10 or 12 years. Other great songs to come out of this session include HOBO BLUES, YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO, MONEY IN THE BANK and the great gospel cut, LISTEN TO THE WORD OF GOD. One of the real gems of this generation.
