For thirty years, Jason Carter has been the fiddle player for the Del McCoury Band—the most awarded group in bluegrass history. He has won three Grammy awards, including 2018’s “Best Bluegrass Album” with the Travelin’ McCourys, of which he is a founding member. He has taken home five IBMAs for “Fiddle Player of the Year,” a staggering number that is not quite so crazy once you realize just how many bluegrass greats have turned to Carter for collaboration. (Jason Carter, 2022)

Jason Carter has spent years collaborating with a laundry list of all-time great musicians across a multitude of genres—not to mention his three decades as a member of the Del McCoury Band and being a founding member of the Travelin’ McCourys—but, never before have all of his friends, from all those years, joined Carter on his own solo album. That is, until now.

On November 4, 2022, Carter will release Lowdown Hoedown, a thirteen-song collection featuring Carter’s own rich vocals and red-hot fiddling backed up by a stunning lineup of musicians whom he calls friends. Imagine that Carter is throwing the pickin’ party of the century and we are all invited to join in. The guests? Well, there is Dierks Bentley, Aiofe O’Donovan, Vince Gill, Billy Strings, Sarah Jarosz, Jon Fishman, Marty Stuart, and that is just for starters. The multitude of guests speaks not only to Carter’s long-known stellar musicianship but also to his personality, lighting up the backstage hangs of music festivals nationwide. 

Carter shared the opening track from Lowdown Hoedown, “King of the Hill,” a Bruce Hornsby tune that features Sam Bush on mandolin, Jerry Douglas on dobro, Russ Carson on banjo, Dennis Crouch on Bass, and Cody Kilby, Carter’s longtime Travelin’ McCourys bandmate, on guitar. “The story is about a guy who is unhappy with his job and relates to it like a prison. I think it made a great bluegrass song,” says Carter, who was introduced to the song by Kilby. “This was the first song we recorded for the record and the band knocked it out of the park.” 

Fans can hear “King of the Hill” right here and pre-order or pre-save Lowdown Hoedown ahead of its release at this link. 

Lowdown Hoedown track list:
King of the Hill
The Six O’clock Train and a Girl with Green Eyes
The Likes of Me
Paper Angel
Dust Bowl Dream
Hoedown for My Lowdown Rowdy Ways
Good Things Happen
Midnight Flyer
Queen of the Nashville Night
Kissimmee Kid
You Led Me to the Wrong
Highway 52
Bird Song