It's not that Junior Sisk fell off the bluegrass map; it just seems that way. After helping to lead traditional bluegrass units like Wyatt Rice and Santa Cruz, the original edition of Ramblers Choice, Lost & Found and BlueRidge for the better part of the late 1990s and into the new millennium, Sisk seemingly disappeared after BlueRidge disbanded in late 2006 just as the band was reaching the heights of bluegrass stature.

BlueRidge had released three widely acclaimed albums and received plenty of praise for their electrifying live performances. Sisk admits he did fade into the background after BlueRidge disbanded. Forming a new band, he said, seemed like an incredibly daunting task. And he felt like he needed some plain old down time. Yet it wasn't like he completely set down his trusty six-string and used that powerful, distinctive tenor merely for conversational purposes.

"After BlueRidge split up, I was just filling in here and there," says Sisk from his home in the BlueRidge Mountains in southwest Virginia. "I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do. It's hard to start a new band, so I was thinking I'd go with a more established group. That way I wouldn't have the headache of looking to get established again."

Sisk kicked around a bit, working around the house and picking up side jobs here and there, including some shows with David Parmley. But Sisk could sense there was more to do as a professional bluegrass singer, songwriter and musician. He'd initially established himself as a songwriter, penning two songs - including the jam session favorite "The Game (I Can't Win)" for the Lonesome River Band in 1994. Sisk also contributed to the award-winning Doobie Shea project "Stanley Gospel Tradition: Songs of Our Savior" that included Dan Tyminski, Aubrey Haynie, Charlie Sizemore, James King and Tim Austin in 1999.

About the same time, Sisk's cousin, noted bluegrass singer-songwriter-bassist Tim Massey - also a founding member of the original Ramblers Choice - had just left the band Carolina Road. Massey, who wrote the International Bluegrass Music Association's Song of the Year in 1995, "Cold Virginia Night" for the Lonesome River Band's Ronnie Bowman, also wasn't sure what was next. Yet, with an array of songs recorded by such bluegrass heavyweights as Dan Tyminski, the Lonesome River Band, IIIrd Tyme Out, Ernie Thacker and Blue Ridge, it wouldn't be long until another gig came a callin'.

Sisk and Massey both were hesitant to pull the trigger on a new path. It wasn't until banjo picker Darrell Wilkerson called one day that the future immediately crystallized. "What got me going again was when Darrell told me, 'If you want to do something, call me,' " Sisk recalls. "It'd been a year and a couple months, and it got me to thinking more, and it got Tim fired up. So we wanted to see who else wanted to get involved."

Wilkerson, who now is Ramblers Choice's full-time banjo player, introduced Sisk and Massey to young mandolin player Chris Harris. He was eager to get involved, Sisk says, and soon they were meeting on a regular basis. "Chris jumped right in, and we started jamming," Sisk says. The next thing you know, we're ready to start the band."

Turned out that not only does Harris pick a fine mandolin, he can also hit the high notes. "He's a great tenor singer," Sisk says of Harris, who also is a student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. "Me and Timmy are too old to do that anymore. We leave that to the young 'uns now. He does most of the tenor on the new album."

Ah, the new album. It's been a decade since the original Ramblers Choice released its lone, highly acclaimed disc, titled "Sounds of the Mountains" on Rounder Select records. In fact, the original members have spread through some of bluegrass music's finest bands of the past 10 years. Besides Sisk and Massey's impressive resumes, founding Ramblers Jim Van Cleve, Alan Perdue and Elmer Burchett have served with, among others, Mountain Heart, IIIrd Tyme Out and Continental Divide.

The new record, "Blue Side of the Blue Ridge," is produced by their longtime friend and occasional collaborator, bowling partner and co-songwriter Ronnie Bowman, whose own career in Nashville as an artist, songwriter and producer is impressive in its own right.

Rambler's Choice is traditional, Appalachia-styled bluegrass to be sure with its soaring harmonies and driven by Wilkerson's jangly banjo. Yet the 12-song collection, anchored by the Massey-Bowman-penned "Poor Mountain" and Massey-Alan Perdue's "Man in Red Camels" (he handles lead vocals on that one) bears a contemporary bent, occasionally leaning toward country while remaining firmly rooted in their beloved Blue Ridge Mountains. They trot out "Leaving Baker County" from the Tom T. Hall collection and include Bennie and Vallie Cain's "The Wolf is at the Door" and conclude with the rip-snortin' Bowman number, "Steel Rail Rider." One of the more contemporary cuts also is one of Sisk's favorites. Bowman wrote "Little Bit of This, Little Bit of That" and had made a demo of it to pitch to country artists. "I heard it at Ronnie's house and said, 'I wish I could do it,' and Ronnie agreed," Sisk says.

"It's my favorite cut. It's the right words that everyone can relate to. It's a little different than what I normally do. I told him, 'I don't know if I can sing it.' We all just loved how it came out. Now we hope the deejays love it too." "Leavin for You" is for the guys, he said. "It's a payback song; I tell the crowd, 'I can say that on stage.'"

The band ends the show with "Steel Rail," which Sisk admits has "a bunch of words," but it's a barn-burner. Yet there's one song that's neatly tucked deep in the album. It doesn't stand out, in terms of it being a bluegrass hit, a foot-stomper or whatever else you might want to call a song. But it holds special meaning for Sisk.

Sisk co-wrote "Man in the Moon" with his father, Harry Sisk Sr. "My dad has written more than 500 songs in his lifetime," Sisk says, who adds that several were included on past Blue Ridge albums. "I'll go in and rearrange them. He says I sing like Carter Stanley.

"Dad doesn't play anymore. He had an old J-45 Gibson, but he won't play in front of me. I try to get him up on stage when he's in the crowd, and he'd do an old Stanley song."

Though the members of Ramblers Choice came together rather quickly, they didn't want to rush into the studio until they felt ready. The song selection fell into place, and the band committed to a regular practice schedule. For six months the band met at least once a week and drilled on a series of new songs as well as cuts from their first record. "Alan Bibey did a lot of that with Blue Ridge," Sisk says. "In a band, there's five different ideas on how to do things. But he had everything mapped out. It's not just weekend picking."

Sisk booked shows while with Blue Ridge and Wyatt Rice, so when Ramblers Choice re-formed, many of the contacts were still there. Promoters don't like to deal with a middleman, he said. They wanted to deal directly with the artist. But that consumes a lot of time, he said. And there's the whole Internet thing, complete with a Web site and a MySpace page. Sisk admits it's all a little overwhelming.

"If I was on my own, I couldn't do it all," he says. Family members are helping with the Web projects, which will ultimately allow them to sell their albums online. Sisk also hired a publicist. "Folks say, 'Man, you've got it made. You do 2 45-minute sets. But they don't know about the 12-hour drive there and back," Sisk says. The first year was hard, he admits. They did about 40 dates last year as they got comfortable with each other. Like a lot of bluegrass artists, construction jobs help pay the bills while music satisfies the soul during the weekend gigs and festivals. That's true for Sisk, who as front man for the band also had to be manager, booking agent and publicist all while trying to maintain his construction job.

The record deal with Rebel also fell into place, Sisk says. Dale Perry, who's now with Parmley's band, gave Sisk a good deal to cut a three-song demo. Sisk then shopped it with all the biggies - Rounder, Pinecastle, Sugar Hill and Rebel, who responded that they'd like to do the project. Sisk met with Rebel President Dave Freeman during the 2007 IBMA festival.

"I've admired Rebel for years," Sisk says. "I have a pile of their records at home. They have a genuine love for this music, and it shows. When I met with (Dave's son) Mark Freeman, it lit a fire under me. They're as excited as we are about this record. They've been right there with us."

Having Bowman produce the album was something of a coup, though he, Massey and Sisk are longtime friends. From bowling to horseshoes to cookouts, they often hang out together whenever they can. "When Ronnie moved to Nashville, we stayed hooked up," Sisk says. "Ronnie produced Wyatt Rice & Santa Cruz. I asked him if he'd be interested in producing this one."

Bowman had just completed his production chores with the Steep Canyon Rangers, so the timing was perfect. Ramblers Choice assembled at Bowman's house and eight days later emerged with the record. Sisk says they also scored a big coup when Rice agreed to engineer the album. "I played with him for three years," Sisk says. "No one has a better ear for music than he does."

Still, as proud as Sisk and Ramblers Choice is of their new album, which was released on Rebel Records in early June, there will be inevitable comparisons to their debut release of a decade ago. "It's going to be hard to keep up with the first Rambler's project," Sisk admits. "But I think this one is right there with it. I have to admit though, it sounds like an old man singing."