HOMECOMING: THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                    MAY 17, 2010

COUNTRY MUSIC STAR JOE DIFFIE RETURNS TO BLUEGRASS WITH
HOMECOMING: THE BLUEGRASS ALBUM
AUGUST 24

Burlington, MA – Rounder Records is pleased to announce country music star and Grand Ole Opry member Joe Diffie’s return to bluegrass music with Homecoming: The Bluegrass Album. Due August 24, Homecoming <pwas co-produced by Diffie and Luke Wooten and features a who’s who of bluegrass A-listers including The Grascals, Rhonda Vincent, Bradley Walker, and Alecia Nugent.  He also enlisted a top-notch band that includes Rob Ickes, Aubrey Haynie, Mike Compton, Bryan Sutton, Mark Fain and Charlie Cushman to back his better-than-ever vocals on this set of songs that are sure to appeal to Diffie’s long-time fans and bluegrass traditionalists alike.

While this is Diffie’s first bluegrass release, it’s not the first bluegrass release on which he’s appeared.  Prior to his moving to Nashville and becoming the country star he is today, he spent several years touring and recording with the bluegrass band Special Edition.  Homecoming is an homage to bluegrass, his musical legacy and first love.  Not only does he reach into his own past for songs such as “Tennessee Tea” and into classic catalog tunes like Flatt & Scruggs’ “Somehow Tonight” – he also covers modern repertoire like “Lonesome And Dry As A Bone,” written by long time friend Shawn Camp, and Larry Cordle’s moving “I Know How It Feels.”  Diffie contributed a few originals as well, such as the soon to be bluegrass classic, “It’s Raining On Her Rubber Dolly Now,” co-written with Camp and featuring the remarkable bluegrass group and label mates, The Grascals. 

Since he first topped the charts in 1990 with Home, Diffie has delivered hit after hit totaling twelve #1’s, twenty top 10’s and four gold and platinum albums.  Some of his most popular hits include “Ships That Don’t Come In,” “Pickup Man,” “John Deere Green,” and “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets).”  As a songwriter, Diffie’s success is equally impressive.  In addition to the numerous hits he kept for himself, his songs have been recorded by Holly Dunn, Tim McGraw, Tracy Lawrence, Conway Twitty, Doug Stone, and most recently Jo Dee Messina, whose recording of “My Give a Damn’s Busted” became a #1 hit.  He has won a Grammy®, several CMA Awards, and has been honored as “Humanitarian of the Year” by the Country Music Broadcasters.

Check out the making of Homecoming: The Bluegrass Album here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjK9s8ODtQA

Homecoming Track Listing:
1.     Somehow Tonight 
2.     Lonesome and Dry as a Bone 
3.     Tall Cornstalk 
4.     Fit For a King 
5.     Route 5 Box 109 
6.     Rainin’ On Her Rubber Dolly - with The Grascals 
7.     I Know How It Feels 
8.     Tennessee Tea 
9.     Free and Easy
10.   Stormy Weather Once Again 
11.   ’Til Death 
12.   Hard To Handle