On Route 23, Chatham County Line once again pledge their allegiance to the country music renaissance. This is not the act of imitation; this is propagation. With the tools of their trade in hand, they travel down the same roads as Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs and the other great pickers of bluegrass, but they do it their own way, with original songs and sounds, to create a "new traditional" style that fits nicely alongside contemporaries like the Yonder Mountain String Band, King Wilkie and the late John Hartford.

Since their critically acclaimed debut, these gents have been hitting the pavement hard to enlighten the uninitiated with the sound of earnest, heartfelt music that's just plain good. CCL is a shining democracy of a band, crowding around the mike to ensure every stroke of the fiddle, every pluck of the banjo and all three parts of the harmony gain equal access to your ear.

One ear that perked up at the sound of those harmonies was producer Chris Stamey (Whiskeytown, Yo La Tengo) who became a believer at an early CCL performance and took it upon himself to personally convince Yep Roc to sign on to these rising stars.

When the chance arises, follow Chris's lead and get yourself out to see CCL do their thing. You'll find four friends who are no strangers to the stage. Dave Wilson (vocals, guitar, harmonica), John Teer (vocals, mandolin, fiddle), Chandler Holt (banjo, vocals), and Greg Readling (bass, vocals, pedal steel) have done their time performing in various other bands and backing such people as Tift Merritt and labelmate Thad Cockrell.

There's a reason Tift, Thad and Chris love this music - it's handcrafted by true lovers of the sound of honest, inspired performing. Give Route 23 a listen and it won't take you long to love it, too.