Audie Blaylock’s recent passing in January 2024 hollowed out a significant space in the lives of his peers. The El Paso, Texas-born bluegrass multi-instrumentalist began his professional musical journey in the early 1980s when Jimmy Martin recruited him to play mandolin in his band. He later played guitar from 1999 through 2003 for Rhonda Vincent & The Rage before segueing into a successful solo career. Blaylock’s A Tribute to Jimmy Martin: The King of Bluegrass earned a Grammy nomination and fueled an increasingly bright future. His tenure fronting and playing alongside Redline further solidified his standing as one of the genre’s great modern talents.
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Reed Jones and Redline are continuing the same tradition. Jones’ single “Ran Out of Road” honors Blaylock’s personal memory rather than paying tribute to his art, but the two are ultimately inseparable. It’s how the two men connected, and it isn’t a small thing that it’s how Jones has chosen to eulogize his now-deceased peer. Music is the language they shared, and it is a fair estimation that Blaylock would approve.
He would approve of the song’s quality. Jones is a fantastic songwriter ably mining his personal experiences without risking listener alienation. It is definitely credible to imagine him spotting a Blaylock-lookalike in public and, after finding the sight initially unnerving, deriving meaningful reassurance from the incident. He conveys that moment with even-handed skill; nothing is overwrought. He makes his affection for Blaylock’s effect on his life and enduring memory clear. Accomplishing these things with expertly chosen language is the crowning touch.
The song’s musical interplay is none too shabby. Jones calls upon his Redline confederates, current and former, to help him round out the musicality of “Ran Out of Road”. It’s a first-class cadre of talents obviously up for the task. The presentation has a notable effect. Jones ensures that the song’s production frames the playing talents of each player without encroaching on any of their musical partners. The artful interweaving of the parts gives “Ran Out of Road” a remarkable fullness, and the warmth emanating from the performance will attract listeners.
It lasts a little over four minutes. This is perhaps lengthy for typical bluegrass cuts, but it’s far from long-winded. Jones builds brief instrumental breaks into the arrangement, but the focus remains resolutely on the lyrical content and vocal melody. The inclusion of backing singers such as Darren Nicholson and the renowned Vince Gill mixes well with Jones’ voice.
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He isn’t a vocal wizard. The song doesn’t need that sort of pyrotechnic singing. Instead, Jones invests each line of “Ran Out of Road” with appropriate emotional weight. He knows when ramping up the intensity is necessary, and those passages rank among the highlights. We can fully expect Jones to return to his work with Redline in the wake of this single, but it definitely shows that the vocalist and bassist has plenty to say under any banner. And yes, it’s as fine and fitting of a tribute to Audie Blaylock’s life as one can imagine. It holds up under repeated listens and already contends as one of 2025’s best one-off bluegrass singles.
Jason Hillenburg
