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“Wielding a Bourgeois flat-top, Kilby lays down clean, fast
lines and outrageous solos that push the envelope of
acoustic lead guitar. His clarity, power, and dexterity are
matched by an ability to spin melodies that sound free, yet
artfully composed.”
Guitar Player Magazine
When I hired Cody, I knew that he had something special. I
could hear it in his playing. Cody's timing and choice of
notes, make for some of the best guitar solos I've ever
heard in bluegrass music. His great tone is also something
that a lot of guitar players don't have. When you listen to
Cody's playing you wouldn't think that he is still in his
twenties. That's what amazes me every night, knowing that
he's still going to get better as a player. I'm very proud
to have him in my band Kentucky Thunder. I know you'll enjoy
this long awaited project. Cody is also a great writer, as
he wrote most all the songs on this CD.
Ricky Skaggs
Cody Kilby is a freak of nature. Cody Kilby's
guitar playing makes my toes curl. I would take Cody
Kilby over Beowulf any day.
Bruce Hornsby
The careers of many child stars are often short-lived
when the attention fades; and to continue to stay at the top
of their field requires more and more work, often with fewer
incentives, many never reach the next level of performance.
Not so with Cody Kilby, perhaps because his early success
was due to his natural genius being matched only by equal
parts determination and discipline.
By now, the boy-wonder beginnings of star instrumentalist
Cody Kilby are well-known to fans of bluegrass and acoustic
music; a true prodigy, he picked up his dad’s banjo at age 8
and by the time he was 11, he had a Gibson banjo
endorsement. He started playing his mom’s guitar at 10, and
by 17, he was the National Flatpicking Champion. He added
mandolin and Dobro around age 13, and at 16, recorded Just
Me, showcasing his mastery of all the instruments on the
recording. He was at home in the spotlight, competing under
the pressure of many prestigious contests, performing at the
Grand Ole Opry and on television shows like TNN’s Crook and
Chase and Dick Clark’s Prime Time Country. But Cody’s early
success didn’t spoil him for the hard work and dedication of
the life of a professional musician, it only fueled his
passion for exploring the endless potential of music, and
more and more, he found his dreams were inextricably bound
to the creative process of playing.
When Cody walked through my door for the first time to
audition for our band, he was unabashedly sporting a shiner
from a slight altercation the night before, and somehow that
blackened eye was a fitting symbol for his nature: a
scrapper, ready for anything, not willing to back down.
Even as he picked his mandolin in my kitchen, he sat on the
very edge of his chair, eagerly leaning forward on the balls
of his feet, as if he was ready to spring at the slightest
provocation. As he flew through the changes, clean,
fluid notes streaming from his instrument, I sensed more
than his obvious virtuosity; there was a quality about his
playing, about him, that I could only think of as...
"hunger". He has an insatiable appetite for
music, for musical ideas and techniques, and he consumes
every new challenge. When he picked up his guitar to
play lilting lines while I sang the song we’ve recorded
here, "She", I knew he was more than an intense,
lightning-fast player; he was a complex and complete
musician, and I was privileged to have met him and played
with him.
Since then, he’s proven himself as an ensemble player as the
respected and valued lead guitarist in the Grammy-winning
instrumental powerhouse band, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky
Thunder. These days, he finds himself playing beside
his heroes, experiencing musical highs like trading solos
with virtuoso legend Bruce Hornsby the other night in New
York City. He’s called to
produce and engineer recordings on his rare spare moments at
his home studio.
Here, on Many Roads Traveled, Cody offers his own
instrumental compositions, and he explores his love of
accompanying singers; what is immediately striking is his
ability to move between bold, innovative fire to intuitive,
tuneful interpretation of beautiful melodies. One
cannot help but be staggered by his sheer athletic ability,
in the strength and agility he delivers, but at the same
time, be moved by the tenderness of his approach to more
sensitive treatments of ballads and vocal songs. He is
surrounded here by an astounding cast of players, and he
belongs among them. Let listening to this recording deepen
your appreciation of this gifted artist, as it has mine.
Sally Jones
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