Former Clinch Mountain Boy Charlie Sizemore signs with Rounder Records

"Good News," Sizemore's first new studio album in five years, drops Aug. 4. The disc was produced by Sizemore and acclaimed country producer/songwriter Buddy Cannon (Kenny Chesney, George Jones, Reba McEntire).

A songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Stanley, Jimmy Martin, Doyle Lawson and Dry Branch Fire Squad, Sizemore contributes four new originals, including the tongue-and-cheek "Alison's Band" reflecting Sizemore's dry sense of humor fans have to come to love. Other cuts include songs by Dixie and Tom T. Hall, Harley Allen and Hank Cochran.

A native of eastern Kentucky, Sizemore was hired at age 17 to take over for the departing Keith Whitley in Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys, with whom he stayed for 9 years before leaving to start his own band and to attend college. He graduated with honors, and now maintains a successful law practice in addition to doing music.

Stanley said, "Charlie Sizemore gave me nine and a half years of honest and dependable service as lead singer in the late '70s and early '80s. He was one of my top lead singers that I have had through the years. Charlie knows music and knows how to make it right."

Since leaving Stanley 20 years ago, Sizemore has appeared on two Grammy nominated albums (Stanley's "Saturday Night & Sunday Morning" and "The Stanley Tradition: Tribute to a Bluegrass Legacy") and received a Dove award nomination (for a track from 2002's "The Story Is...The Songs of Tom T. Hall").

The Charlie Sizemore Band is currently on tour and will perform at the 2007 I.B.M.A. World of Bluegrass Conference this fall. The band consists of Sizemore (lead vocals, guitar), Danny Barnes (mandolin, vocals), Matt DeSpain (Dobro), John Pennell (bass) and Wayne Fields (banjo).