Article Contributed by Mountain Home Music Company
Published on 2026-02-20
Lonesome River Band masterfully weaves old and new on “There Where The River Rolls Around”
For their second Mountain Home Music Company release of 2026, epic bluegrass hitmakers Lonesome River Band have turned once again to a favored songwriter. With its intriguing blend of an old-timey structure and modern arrangement touches, “There Where the River Rolls Around” affirms the quintet’s ongoing ability to serve up new takes on the genre’s classic traditions.
“We got this song from our long time songwriting friend, Billy Smith,” notes LRB leader and acclaimed banjo player Sammy Shelor of the composer of such essentials in the group’s repertoire as “Hobo Blues,” “Tears In My Tracks,” and “Crazy Heart.” “As we listened to the song one late night going down the road in the bus, the arrangement just fell into place and we began working on it. A haunting song about leaving home searching for more and longing to be back. Thanks Billy!”
That arrangement is notable for its use of contemporary touches, like the rhythmic underpinning of damped rhythmic guitar chords, to back a melody that mimics the outlines of an old-time fiddle tune. Accentuating the throwback feel, each chorus is followed by a simple, yet sonically full statement of the melody in both its parts, carried by combinations of banjo, fiddle, mandolin and guitar, while the lyrics offer a tale at once mysterious and familiar:
Where the corn grows tall I made my vow
Make it back to you somehow
Miss the sod, miss my plow
There where the river rolls around
Made my plan, set my schemes
Built my hopes and chased my dreams
But my heart still claims to be
There where the river rolls around
Time passed by and I found one day
I paid the cost when I lost my way
All along I longed to stay
There where the river rolls around
With a laconic yet wistful delivery from lead singer and mandolinist Adam Miller, “There Where the River Rolls Around” is a masterful weaving of old and new elements into a compelling whole.
“There Where The River Rolls Around” is streaming in Dolby Atmos spatial audio on Apple Music, Amazon Music and TIDAL.
Listen: https://clg.lnk.to/lrb-TWtRRA
