“When Bobby passed, I was at a loss,” says C.J. Lewandowski, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys’ mandolinist and mentee to the late, great bluegrass legend Bobby Osborne. Lewandowski wasn’t just mourning the loss of a dear friend, he was unsure of what to do with the album he’d begun recording with Osborne just months before his passing. “I wanted to give up on what we had accomplished in the studio,” Lewandowski remembers. “I didn’t want to hear his voice. I was contemplating quitting music altogether.” One night sitting alone on his porch in the Smokey Mountains, Lewandowski felt as if Osborne was sitting next to him. He claims that his old friend told him, “I gave you something, now do what you want with it.”
Over the coming weeks, those words wouldn’t leave Lewandowski’s mind. After chewing on the meaning behind it all, things began to come into focus. While he couldn’t make this album with Osborne anymore, he could finish it for him. And so became the upcoming LP, Bobby Osborne, C.J. Lewandowski, & Friends’ Keep On Keepin’ On. Featuring the last few tracks ever recorded by the 91-year-old member of The Osborne Brothers and later, Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press, Keep On Keepin’ On finds a whole host of folks who loved Osborne—both personally and musically—paying their respects in a way that adds one more jewel to Osborne’s Bluegrass crown. For the remaining songs featuring Osborne only in inspiration, the all-star cast includes members of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Country Music Hall of Fame, stars of Osborne’s beloved Grand Ole Opry, Grammy award-winners, members of The Rocky Top X-Press, Osborne’s sons, and many other friends and fans of Bobby Osborne. A testament to Osborne’s continuing influence on bluegrass, at least a dozen of the performers on Keep On Keepin’ On are under the age of forty (including Lewandowski), underscoring the resounding impact Bobby Osborne’s music has made on the current crop of roots music makers—nearly eighty years since he was first discovered as a teenage talent.
This past week, the fourth single from Keep On Keepin’ On was released: “She’s No Angel” by C.J. Lewandowski & Del McCoury (featuring Ronnie McCoury). In the midst of dealing with the loss of Osborne, Lewandowski was asked to participate in a tribute to his hero at the 2023 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards Show. “I was not as excited as I should’ve been,” Lewandowski remembers. “But I knew I had to do it for my old friend.” The tribute ended up being the highlight of the evening, and later that night Lewandowski found Del, Ronnie, and Rob McCoury jamming with Bobby Osborne Jr. “I rounded the corner and here was Del singing ‘She's No Angel.’ So, I hopped in and sang the low part while Bobby Jr. got his dad's part. It was so inspiring and energizing to be a part of that. Bobby Jr. and I were walking out, and he mentioned the idea of asking Del and the boys to be on the project. That’s the point where I realized that I had something I needed to complete. I needed to do this project to help cope with the grief and depression I had locked up inside of me, holding on to the things Bobby and I would never get to do.” This studio version of “She’s No Angel” features Lewandowski on vocals, Del McCoury on guitar and vocals, Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, Bobby Osborne Jr. on bass, Wynn Osborne on banjo, and Aynsley Porchak on fiddle.
Fans can listen to “She’s No Angel” today at this link ahead of the August 22nd release of Keep On Keepin’ On via Turnberry Records. For more information, please visit www.turnberryrecords.com and follow the label on Facebook and Instagram.
Keep On Keepin’ On Tracklist:
“Keep On Keepin’ On” - Bobby Osborne & C.J. Lewandowski (feat. Sam Bush)
“Lonesome Feeling” - C.J. Lewandowski & Vince Gill (feat. A.J. Lee and The Rocky Top X-Press)
“Where The Soul Never Dies” - Bobby Osborne & C.J. Lewandowski
“Rosie Bokay” - C.J. Lewandowski & Paul Brewster (feat. Wyatt Ellis and John Meador)
“Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong” - Bobby Osborne & C.J. Lewandowski (feat. Molly Tuttle and The Osborne Boys)
“She’s No Angel” - C.J. Lewandowski & Del McCoury (feat. Ronnie McCoury)
“Don’t Know Why” - Bobby Osborne & C.J. Lewandowski (feat. Wyatt Ellis)
“Fern Branch” - C.J. Lewandowski & Wyatt Ellis (feat. Del McCoury and Ronnie McCoury)
“Cora Is Gone” - Bobby Osborne & C.J. Lewandowski (feat. Rob McCoury and Billy Strings)
“Blue Heartache” - C.J. Lewandowski & Jaelee Roberts (feat. The Po' Ramblin' Boys)
“Rank Stranger” - Bobby Osborne & C.J. Lewandowski (feat. Wyatt Ellis)
“Rocky Top” - Bobby Osborne & C.J. Lewandowski (feat. Wyatt Ellis and The Osborne Boys)
“Too Old to Die Young” - Bobby Osborne & C.J.Lewandowski
About C.J. Lewandowski: C.J. Lewandowski is a GRAMMY-nominated mandolin player and the founder of the bluegrass ensemble, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys. Lewandowski’s contributions to bluegrass music were recently highlighted in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s “American Currents: State of the Music” exhibition in 2024, where his artifacts were displayed alongside those of his mentor, Bobby Osborne.
