Why this amazing guitar artist was not "discovered" before now is a mystery, but thanks to Joe Wilson and the Smithsonian label, those who love the "Travis" style of finger picking have a fine recording to cherish. Wilson, in a most interesting and enlightening set of notes, sets the record straight about the style that Travis and Chet Atkins made famous, tracing its origins -- through a series of musicians in Western Kentucky (where Pennington is from) back to the parlor guitar tradition. Pennington learned directly from Mose Rager, whom Travis always praised, but his similarities to Travis are clear, both in his repertoire and his general humorous outlook. Most everyone who likes the sound of a guitar will appreciate BLUEBELL, JOHN'S SMOKE TURNS BLUE, WALKING THE STRINGS, PIG ANKLE RAG and the rest of the 20 songs & tunes like SWEET GEORGIA BROWN, THE PIG GOT UP, STONE'S RAG, NINE POUND HAMMER and BYE BYE BLUES. Almost as amazing as the music itself is the fact that Pennington had another 6 previous releases from 1993-2000! Where have we been?
