Ashby Frank offers his take on the enduring classic, “Mr. Engineer”

After the lickety-split speed of his chart-topping “Everybody’s Got Their Nine Pound Hammer,” Mountain Home Music Company’s Ashby Frank dials back the tempo — and turns back the clock — with a new take on Jimmy Martin’s enduring classic, “Mr. Engineer.”

Frank only rarely got to see the self-titled King of Bluegrass before his death in 2005, but as with most bluegrass artists, the Hall of Famer’s contributions are part of his musical DNA. Yet Frank’s approach to the song is no carbon copy of the memorable original. Abetted by long-time friends and colleagues Seth Taylor (guitar), Matt Menefee (banjo), Travis Anderson (bass), Jim VanCleve (fiddle) and labelmate Jaelee Roberts (harmony vocal), his reading brings out the blues in Martin’s and fellow Hall of Famer Paul Williams’ creation, while taking its waltz time at an even more stately pace:

I’m gonna catch me a freight train
I’m leaving this lonesome town
The one I love and gave my heart to
For someone else she’s turned me down 

Engineer, reach up and pull the whistle
Let me hear that lonesome sound
For it blends with the feeling that’s in me
The one I love has turned me down

“I started performing this Jimmy Martin and Paul Williams classic onstage with Mashville Brigade years ago,” Frank recalls, “and recently started adding it to the set list of my Yachtgrass band’s shows. I have wanted to record it since I started singing it live, and I am so proud of the finished product. I just love the old school vibe and super lonesome content of the lyrics and melody, and of course Matt and Jim added some wicked and bluesy solos that made the whole track gel together. I can’t wait for everyone to hear it!”

“Mr. Engineer” is streaming in Dolby Atmos spatial audio on Apple Music, Amazon Music and TIDAL. Listen to it HERE.

Since his arrival in Music City in the early part of the century, North Carolina-born singer, songwriter and ace mandolinist Ashby Frank has become known among its musicians as one of the community’s most valuable collaborators. His string of hits as a solo artist includes an IBMA award-winning instrumental, “Knee Deep in Bluegrass”—recorded as a tribute to its late writer, long-time friend and legendary banjo man Terry Baucom— which, at #2, led his remarkable 3 entries on Bluegrass Today’s Top 50 airplay chart for 2024. He’s scored as a songwriter, too, penning songs for Junior Sisk, Amanda Cook, Dale Ann Bradley, Lindley Creek and more, and even taken on the world of comedy as a member of the Darrell Brothers. When not performing with his own band, Ashby has appeared recently with Mountain Heart, John Cowan, Steve Earle, and The Earls of Leicester.