Let's Kick It - Ross Nickerson - Pinecastle Records
Banjo CD
Let's Kick It - Ross Nickerson on Pinecastle Records
Straight ahead banjo playing featuring Pinecastle Recording Artis Ross Nickerson and members of the band, Blue Highway, Rob Ickes on Dobro, Shawn Lane Mandolin/Fiddle, Tim Stafford, Guitar and Wayne Taylor Bass. Engineered by Scott Vestal. 14 songs in all.
This album full of well-known material, highlighted with unique originals that any fan of bluegrass music will enjoy. Keeping true to his forte, Ross has assembled a fantastic set of straight-ahead bluegrass classics featuring his creative, hard driving banjo playing as well as featuring four members of one of the best ensembles in bluegrass music today.
Let's Kick It features fast tempos, explosive solos and some great new bluegrass music. The band rips up some great Bill Monroe standards, swings Lady Be Good and drives home other standards like Little Maggie along with Nickerson originals, Roundhouse and Feeling Low. 
This "incredibly hot" banjo project must have been filled with jet fuel the way it took off after I started playing it
Ross's new album is on fire!!! I listened on my car CD player and forgot which road I was traveling
Click on the song title to hear soundclips
1. RoundHouse
2. Cluck Old Hen
3. Kentucky Mandolin
4. Dixie Hoedown
5. Old Dangerfield
6. Little Maggie
7. Rough and Rocky
8. Bluegrass Breakdown
9. Lady Be Good
10. Jerusalem Ridge
11. Feeling Low
12. Wheel Hoss
13. Can't Stop Me From Dreaming
14. John Henry
The disc IS incredible ... Fantastic banjo tracks brilliantly played! Really enjoy the music Ross, thanks very much. If only I could play half as good as you one day I would be very happy!Karl
Every inch of Let's Kick It is exactly what its title implies, true heel-kickin' Appalachian joy, unrestrained delight in zesty melodies
i was amazed at how hard driving this Album is. It is a pure joy to listen too
There are two Nickerson originals featured and he proves to be as good a composer as he is a picker.
Many More Reviews below
Let’s Kick It Tab Book Now Available!
Note for note transcriptions of all the Ross Nickerson solos from Lets Kick It. Meticulously transcribed with easy to read tab right down to the last bend, hammer-on, pull-off and slide. Get the details.
Buy the Tab Book $29.95
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Bruce Rayman Jan 29, 2023 | Blown Away Ross just a note telling you I bought your cd of let’s kick it. That’s the best recording of bluegrass in history. I’m just blown away. I only wish. Hope you do more. Bruce Rayman |
Recommended to buy: Yes |
L Raymond L Aug 4, 2020 | If you do not have this CD you need to get it NOW! Friends, this CD is a must have CD. If you are a frequent visitor to banjoteacher.com then you more than likely heard Roundhouse from this CD. I love this tune and just had to have the entire CD. This is a must have CD for your bluegrass collection. If you are a bluegrass addict then you are cheating yourself out of some great bluegrass pickin. This is first class bluegrass the way God and Bill Monroe intended it to be. You will NOT be disappointed one bit it if you are true bluegrass fan. This will make you want to grab your banjo, mandolin, fiddle or Dobro or guitar and jam along or just dance. WARNING: If you listen to this once you WILL become addicted to bluegrass. This is a good thing. Ross Nickerson will have a banjo to sell you and you can get started learning to play so you can enjoy your new addiction. Just buy this CD and listen. Do yourself a favor because its that good. There is a great selection of music that your ears must hear. This is first rate ear candy. |
Recommended to buy: Yes |
Larry Stephens Mar 16, 2016 | As good a composer as he is a picker. Ross Nickerson is not a household name in bluegrass – but he’s a very good banjo picker. It doesn’t take much listening to recognize someone who is a master of the instrument. A quick tour of his website shows a previous affiliation with Pinecastle Records and appearances at workshops around the world. He’s produced a library full of instructional books and DVDs and appears on the east coast with The Fast Brothers.. It is available on Nickerson’s website. Joining him on the CD is Blue Highway, absent banjo player Jason Burleson. This is an unusual step. While members of most bands regularly appear as guests on various artists’ projects, to bring in an entire band – and no other guests – is something you don’t normally see, even on solo projects by some band’s member. If you’ve ever heard Blue Highway then you know the backup work is excellent. Scott Vestal, no slouch on the banjo himself, did the recording and mixing. There are two Nickerson originals featured and he proves to be as good a composer as he is a picker. “Roundhouse” is an upbeat tune, the kind when the banjo can especially shine while “Feeling Low” is at a slower tempo but retaining all the drive of “Roundhouse.” “Feeling Low” has a nice, bluesy feel, punched along by Wayne Taylor’s solid bass line. Most of the selections are familiar, though some are viewed as traditionally belonging to some other instrument. “Wheel Hoss” and “Old Dangerfield” come from Bill Monroe and are associated with the mandolin (though, obviously, the banjo took breaks on them when Monroe played). The old Flatt & Scruggs tune “Don’t This Road Look Rough and Rocky” isn’t often done as an instrumental but Nickerson’s version is a good listening tune. He did decide to include a vocal track on two numbers. He gives a rousing version of “Little Maggie” with Wayne Taylor on the vocals and an equally upbeat version of “John Henry” featuring Tim Stafford. A selection I find particularly interesting is the Gershwin melody, “Lady Be Good.” It’s been recorded many times and hails back to the 1924 Broadway show, Lady, Be Good! When you don’t have to worry about lyrics you can do a lot of genre-jumping and still appeal to bluegrass fans. “Jerusalem Ridge,” always a favorite of mine, began life as a fiddle tune (Kenny Baker / Bill Monroe) and Shawn Lane plays an excellent fiddle on this track, as does Rob Ickes on the resophonic guitar and Tim Stafford on a short guitar break. Nickerson plays a faultless lead on banjo. Great selections, great playing. If you’re a fan of bluegrass instrumentals then you need look no farther for a great CD. |
Recommended to buy: Yes |
Lets Kick it Review Submitted through BanjoHangout Mar 16, 2016 | IMPRESSED Be a beginning banjo player may not qualify me to play good, however my ears are experts in good Music and ROSS NICKERSON's album Lets KICK IT is definatively a great choice. I have no connection to Ross other than sending a few dimes in to him every so often for Banjo Supplies and perusing his website on a weekly basis. I was however fortunate to get to meet and talk with him this past weekend at the Marana Blue Grass Festival.My wife and I braved the cold to see one of our friends, Mark Hickler and Greenwood Sidee and it was just a bonus that Ross Nickerson and X-Train were also in the lineup. During Ross' set my wife, not the biggest bluegrass fan was sparked by a song that in Ross' words " made the banjo sad" that song is called Feeling Low. Doing what every good husband does I bought Lets Kick it and went about enjoying the rest of the festival.After leaving my wife placed the CD in and we began to listen to the rest of the songs on this album and were completely IMPRESSED. In this , his latest, Ross ( on banjo of course) is joined by Rob Ickes on the Reso, Shawn Lane on the mando and fiddle, Tim Stafford on the guitar and vocals, and rounding out this great group of muscians in Wayne Taylor on Bass and vocals. Not knowing what to expect after hearing Feeling Low, i was amazed at how hard driving this Album is. It is a pure joy to listen too, so much so after we got home, I took off on my motorcycle and just go lost in this great example of bluegrass music, led by Ross and his kicked up style.One word of warning, however If you do not pay attention while listening to this album, there is a good chance you may end up seeing the ole "red and Blues" in your rear view mirror since the banjo is so hard driving that your foot or throttle hand will most certainly be pushing the red line. The album consists of 14 song mixed with both traditional, originals, and a few Bill Monroe tunes and even a George & Ira Gerswin number.All in all LETS KICK IT is a GREAT album, by a great artist and group of musicians. Any song, "Feeling Low" that has my wife enjoying bluegrass is nothing short of a miracle and will only help when I ask her for that next banjo! If you do not have this CD. GET IT! well worth the pocket change to buy! |
Recommended to buy: Yes |
Mark S. Tucker Mar 16, 2016 | exactly what its title implies, Ross Nickerson isn't just a great banjo player but a world-renowned picker, so much so that he's written an extremely well received tome Bluegrass Banjo Encyclopedia from A to Z, issued two instructional DVDs, and printed up a couple of books of tablature transcription, one covering this release, the other of a past disc, Blazing the West. Hence, you're not just looking at a cat who can pluck the bejeezus out of them thar five strings, Leroy, but someone who shows everyone else how to do it as well. That tells ya something. More, Nickerson gathered up a quartet of gents just as spic 'n span ultra-clean and dexterous as he (you may already know them as Blue Highway), the entire fivesome barnstorming through 14 well-chosen tracks, some trad, some standards, two written by Ross. Rob Ickes on Resophonic guitar is a stand-out, but Shawn Lane (mandolin, fiddle) and Tim Stafford (guitar, vox) match him step for step with Wayne Taylor racing alongside, oft wielding a swingin' tub-thumping bass. Every inch of Let's Kick It is exactly what its title implies, true heel-kickin' Appalachian joy, unrestrained delight in zesty melodies, and swirling variations by a passel o' players determined not to let a measure go by that they can't cram full of intertwining notes. The slightly slower numbers, such as Bill Monroe's Wheel Hoss, allow a bit more inspection of nuance and intonation, not to mention a chance to somewhat catch one's breath, but the effect is just as dazzling: pure sterling musicianship no matter how you cut it. Lordamighty but this is good stuff! Put aside the coffee and Jolt Cola before throwing it on the player, though, or you'll barely be able to contain yourself, turning somersaults, high steppin', and hollering' to beat glory. Mind and body will exult thuswise, but that doctor feller may have to give you a sedative and folks'll talk, so best to smile and do a jig in the living room. We don't want to create a ruckus, now do we? |
Recommended to buy: Yes |
Thanks, macgill Mar 16, 2016 | incredible Ross, Our local public radio station, KNBA, has a 2 hour bluegrass show on Wednesday nights (Borealis Bluegrass, guaranteed to make get up and holler or breakdown and cry). They have played a couple numbers from Kick it and gave you a long raving review tonight. The disc IS incredible. Also I bought a beginner banjo from you this fall and have been having a fantastic time (if a bit frustrating) learning the banjo. I am still working out of the beginners book and have a long track to success, but I appreciate your teaching method a lot. |
Recommended to buy: Yes |
Bob Mitchell (Radio Bluegrass International and WKWC-FM) Mar 16, 2016 | Keep up the great work. ....Ross, There is no way you would remember this, but we met at IBMA over 6 years ago. I'm not sure how you located me but I am glad you did. I just finished listening to your new CD (Let's Kick It). Wow! It's super and it will get a lot of play on my weekly radio program. By the way, Monroe's recording of Kentucky Mandolin is my theme song. Keep up the great work. |
Recommended to buy: Yes |
Marilyn Ryan Hulbert Mar 16, 2016 | Let's Kick It Ross's new album is on fire!!! I listened on my car CD player and forgot which road I was traveling - I couldn't think of anything but the clarity of the notes, the quality of Scott Vestal's recording at Digital Underground, the originality infused into the tunes, and the bluegrass tempos - the music we crave that energizes us and makes us feel good - the flying fingers and picks on every tune. Ross is an amazing banjo player! Helping him show off his talent are none other than Rob Ickes on resophonic guitar, Shawn Lane playing mandolin and fiddle. Tim Stafford on guitar and vocals. and Wayne Taylor on bass and vocals. Wayne Taylor sang a "Little Maggie" to tear you heart out! Roundhouse is the 1st cut - written by Ross. Then Cluck Old Hen. There are 4 Bill Monroe tunes played like you've never heard them before! Kentucky Mandolin, Old Dangerfield, Bluegrass Breakdown, and Wheel Hoss. Ross Nickerson plays another of his called "Feeling Low". I promise you will not feel one low moment when listening to this album! Lady Be Good", written by George and Ira Gershwin is fantastically beautiful! "Don't This Road look Rough and Rocky - don't even need the words when these folks play. John Henry is the last of the 14 cuts. I believe Tim Stafford sings it, but can't be sure - the notes didn't say. Whether Wayne or Tim, it is just great! Powerful, perfect pickin' by every musician on this CD and... seriously..... if you love banjo, mandolin, guitar and fiddle music and love fast, clean, inventive, beautiful, bluegrass music, if you only add one album to your collection this year..... this is the one!!!! Ross Nickerson's "Let's Kick It" is the hottest music that has come down the Bluegrass Pike in a long time! |
Recommended to buy: Yes |
Cordially, Al Shusterman KCBL Radio Backroads Bluegrass Mar 16, 2016 | Thank you for sharing this fine project with us, This "incredibly hot" banjo project must have been filled with jet fuel the way it took off after I started playing it. The pulsating sound of Ross Nickerson's banjo could be felt the entire time this project was playing. The song selection contained tried & trued traditional bluegrass songs with a sprinkling of his original songs & a well known pop song. He has given "new life" to many of these classics. This the the type of project that will appeal to both "bluegrass banjo junkies" & novices too. Kudos to the members of Blue Highway. They did a superb job!! What a wonderful way to start the New Year. I played the entire project, & I had a hard time keeping up with my request lines!! With this project Ross has KICKED THE BAR HIGHER than other musicians. I know I will be carrying this project with me for many weeks to come. A listener favorite!! |
Recommended to buy: Yes |
n/a Mar 16, 2016 | Picker There are two Nickerson originals featured and he proves to be as good a composer as he is a picker. |
Recommended to buy: Yes |
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