Blue Highway is red-hot

By Brenda Neugent

Published: May 22, 2008

Fresh from a performance at Merlefest, the bluegrass band Blue Highway will likely pay tribute to Danville when it performs here with its 2001 song “Ridin’ the Danville Pike,” about an overnight ride to Danville on horseback that showcases the group’s stellar musical skills.
From the album “Still Climbing Mountains,” the song is only one of numerous hits penned for the group by Southwest Virginia-born Blue Highway member Wayne Taylor.
The band — currently celebrating the success of its eighth album, “Through the Window of a Train” — also features Tim Stafford (guitar, vocals), Jason Burleson (banjo, guitar, mandolin), Rob Ickes (dobro) and Shawn Lane (mandolin, fiddle, vocals).
Blue Highway’s latest release — which features a collection of story songs, cowboy songs and love songs — debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Bluegrass Charts and the title track was voted No. 1 for five
consecutive weeks recently on the Sirius Radio Bluegrass Countdown.
The album was recorded at Maggard Sound in Big Stone Gap, Va., where Ralph Stanley and other music legends have made history.
“In music, you can’t replace where you’re from,” said Lane in an interview with CMT.com. “In bluegrass, you can’t replace being from that area. There’s like a vein of music through there.”
Critics have been quick to offer praise for the contemporary bluegrass group, whose members have cut their teeth through stints with Earl Scruggs, Alison Krauss and Ricky Skaggs.
“Why are these guys super?” asked Bob Cannon of Entertainment Weekly. “They can make your heart soar even as it’s breaking.”
“…among the most adventurous and experimental ensembles in bluegrass and acoustic music, and Blue Highway’s eighth CD may be its finest,” another critic added.
Blue Highway has won numerous awards over the years, including IBMA awards for Gospel Recording of the Year (2004, 1997), Emerging Artist of the Year (1996),  Album of the Year Award (1996, 2006) and Dobro Player of the Year (Rob Ickes in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007).