Troy Boone, from Erwin, Tn., began performing bluegrass music as a teen. After playing banjo and guitar, Boone chose mandolin as his main instrument. In 2013, Boone enrolled in East Tennessee State University’s Bluegrass Music Program, and in 2015, he released his album called First Impressions.

Originally from New York, Aaron “Frosty” Foster began playing guitar at age ten. In 2010, while studying business at ETSU, Foster enrolled in the school’s bluegrass program and soon started playing with ETSU’s Bluegrass Pride Band. He released albums entitled Reaping the Blues (2016) and Opening Doors (2017).

During the fall of 2019, Boone & Foster were in a house band (Dreamcatcher) playing classic bluegrass numbers at a popular Gatlinburg, Tn. Distillery. When Troy wanted to get experience recording and mixing an album, the seed for this project was planted. It would give the house band a product to sell to generate a little extra income at gigs. That same year, 2019, Foster joined the Amanda Cook band on guitar, and his future career as a bluegrass musician looked very promising.  Sadly, only a couple years later in 2021, Foster unexpectedly passed away at age of 28.

In a sense, this set of staple popular songs, being put out on the Mountain Fever label, is a very fitting, emotional and endearing tribute to Foster. Similar to a hard-driving project from The Bluegrass Album Band, one loves hearing solid presentations of “I’m Head over Heels in Love with You,” “Tiny Broken Heart,” “Fox on the Run,” “Uncle Pen,” “Gotta Travel On,” “Think of What You’ve Done,” “Long Journey Home” and “Rocky Top.”

Some less-oft-heard fare includes Patrick McDougal’s “County Fool” and Ted Lundy and the Southern Mountain Boys’ “I’ve Never Been So Lonesome In My Life” originally put out in 1972. The former, a song they probably picked up from Alan Bibey’s In the Blue Room album released about 2000, presents the perfect remedy for a jilted lover who just isn’t going to take it anymore. The latter was also covered a few years back by The James King Band.    

Smoky Mountain Favorites also features three others in the core band - Daniel Greeson (fiddle), Brady Wallen (banjo) and Aaron Ramsey (bass). From Greensboro, N.C., Greeson began fiddling at age six, won several fiddle contests, and performed and recorded with youth bands Close Kin and OldGrass. In 2014, he began playing with Rich in Tradition, and he released his first album of fiddle tunes at age 16 on the Patuxent label. Brady Wallen is a hard-driving banjo player who started playing when he was 17 years old. Originally from Williamsburg, Ky., Wallen went to East Tennessee State University, and his banjo playing can also be heard with the Clay Hess Band. Wallen plays a Gibson Blackjack. From Morganton, NC, Aaron Ramsey is a multi-instrumentalist who has played with Damascus Road, Linville Ridge Band, Randy Kohrs and the Lites, Mountain Heart, and Volume Five.

Appearing in limited roles, guest musicians on this album include Ricky Wasson, C.J. Lewandowski, Ron Stewart, Jereme Brown and Avery Welter. Overall, it’s a real treat to hear this clarion set of enduring bluegrass classics. We know that the genre is vibrant and in good hands when we hear the next few generations picking and singing the standards like this. Sadly, however, Aaron “Frosty” Foster won’t be right there with them but will be listening from on high. (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)