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Critic's Review
James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
Bluegrass-gospel mandolin legend Doyle Lawson's first record for the Rounder label is a textbook execution of the kind of harmonious precision, instrumental acumen, and Nashville heart that has served as his muse for the last four decades. His ever-rotating Quicksilver band has been a boot camp of sorts for a myriad of singers and instrumentalists, including longtime banjo player Terry Baucom, five-year veterans Jamie Dailey and Barry Scott, and recent convert and electrifying fiddler Jesse Stockman. They don't disappoint on the pitch-perfect You Gotta Dig a Little Deeper, a collection of secular and non-secular waltzes, breakdowns, and close harmony barnburners that are so dead-on in every aspect that it's almost too easy for the listener to let them pass by without a nod to all the work that went into them. While "Heartbreak Number Nine," fueled by Stockman's surging double stops, "What Ain't to Be, Just Might Happen"'s mischievous wordplay, and the title cut's infectious melody rank high among the artist's repertoire, it's only the lone instrumental, the self-penned "Rosine," that suggests the wealth of off-the-cuff creativity that runs through this country gentleman's veins.
