Obsessing over this performance lately: Junior Sisk's soulful, melismatic vocal; Joey Cox's lean, mean banjo fills; the bluesy trio harmonies, the cinematic fiddle playing -- it all adds up to some perfect bluegrass.

But there's much more going on here than music. I notice that, when the townsfolk search through "plans and deeds and records", they find that the railroad doesn't have the right-of-way at all. If the titular character -- or his father -- had known that, a life might have been saved.

So, this is what happens when ignorance and brute force take the place of information and education -- not that that's relevant these days. :-(

This is BlueRidge, featuring Junior Sisk, with "Shotgun".