April 18, 2025 — For his second Mountain Home Music Company release as a solo artist, Jesse Smathers serves up a peppy quartet from the pen of one of bluegrass’s most beloved songwriters and entertainers. First recorded more than four decades ago by bluegrass Hall of Famers, the Lewis Family, “Good Time Get Together” was written by Randall Hylton, a legendary performer who supplied a lengthy string of hit songs to the top ranks of bluegrass artists from the 1970s until his passing in 2003.
“When I first ran across this old Randall Hyton tune, I knew it was something that I wanted to record,” recalls Smathers. “I sought out the lyrics; and Wanda Dalton, Randall’s sister, wrote them out for me. I truly cherish this tune and its uplifting melody and message.”
Sure enough, the joyful feel of “Good Time Get Together” is apparent from the start, elicited by a snappy introduction from mandolinist Nick Goad over backing from fiddler Hunter Berry, Corbin Hayslett (banjo) and bassist Joe Hannabachbefore guitarist Smathers’ cheery vocal jumps into the first verse:
Oh there’s coming a morning, eternity is dawning
And soon we will meet on that Heavenly strand
There we’ll join in the singing with banjos a-ringing
At the good time get together in glory land
In a nod to the original recording, Smathers trades phrases with Goad’s high tenor in the first and third lines of each verse, while the second and fourth lines receive a full quartet treatment with the addition of Patrick Robertson and bass singer Dale Perry. And as Smathers unreels the song’s verses, most are neatly followed by a solo featuring the instrument named in it (“banjos a-ringing,” “mandolins playing,” and “guitars a-strummin’”), vividly summoning up an engaging vision of a heavenly bluegrass jam session.
“When I think of my friends, loved ones, and heroes that have gone on,” notes Smathers, “it is a beautiful and consoling thought to think of the music making that will happen once we get to heaven. It will truly be a ‘Good Time Get Together’!”
Listen to “Good Time Get Together” HERE.
About Jesse Smathers
Jesse Smathers was born and raised in Eden, North Carolina but holds his Western NC roots close. Jesse comes from a long line of musicians. His grandfather, Harold Smathers, and grand Uncle Luke Smathers, recorded for June Appal and were awarded the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 1993 for their contributions to North Carolina Folk Music. This influence started the trajectory of his musical journey. He began playing the guitar at age eleven and not long after took to the mandolin. He spent his teens competing at fiddlers conventions across North Carolina and Virginia, and in 2010 he began his career as a touring musician with the James King Band playing mandolin and providing the tenor harmonies. Later he rejoined the band performing guitar and vocals.
In 2014, Jesse joined Nothin’ Fancy. The same year, he was also inducted in Phi Mu Alpha, a music fraternity, as an honorary Sinfonian, joining such greats as John Phillip Sousa, Count Bassie, Duke Ellington, and Andy Griffith. In 2015, Lonesome River Band welcomed him to the group as the mandolin player and in 2017, Jesse won the IBMA Momentum Award for Vocalist of the Year. In 2021, Jesse switched over to the guitar position with the group after the departure of Brandon Rickman. In 2022 Jesse released his first self-titled solo album.
Jesse now lives in Southwest Virginia, near Floyd and teaches with the Handmade Music School, when not touring with the Lonesome River Band. He takes much joy in passing along Appalachian traditions, and cultivating community with the music he makes.