Sutton is one of the most high-profile acoustic guitarists in bluegrass and country music these days, a first-call Nashville session player whose jaw-dropping technique, deep background in tradition, and fluency in multiple styles have landed him important gigs with Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, Earl Scruggs, the Dixie Chicks, Béla Fleck, and others. But with his third solo recording he opted for a more low-key approach. Though it features some of the greatest, iconic bluegrass guitarists in history (Tony Rice, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, David Grier, among others), Sutton’s new CD is a tribute to the kind of personal, spontaneous music making that often happens when guitarists get together to jam informally. "I wanted to get out of the studios, out of the sterility of standard record making," he says "and capture as much of the music on my own as possible, so I decided to go to people’s homes.

"I really like the musical conversation that goes on in a duet," he continues. "I like the reactions, and with this record I tried to capture as much of those nuances as possible. In a duo, you have the freedom to go as far as each person is willing to go. You have this great possibility to get one sound, one voice. The guitar has such a wide tonal range that in a good duet situation you don’t miss anything, you don’t want for bass or the mandolin chop or anything. You’ve got plenty of sustain and rhythm, all that stuff. When you get a trio, suddenly you have different roles to play. And in a band everybody has their specific part to do at any give moment. But with a duet you can constantly change dynamics and it’s completely free."

Sutton not only wanted to showcase his heroes, but also demonstrate just how his own playing as evolved under their influence. However, far from aping his partners, he simply listens and reacts, allowing the music to grow naturally. "There’s a conscious level when I’m playing with these guys, where I’ll be inspired to do something just because I hear it," he says. "I’m a real reactionary player. When I hear something, whether it be a cool lick from Norman or some weird chord voicing that David Grier is doing, it’s going to inspire me to go somewhere spontaneously. It’s all improv on that level. But there’s also subconscious stuff that happens, little intercommunication things, rhythmic things, the general pocket and groove. I feel like we were able to capture the sound of two guitars sounding like one big instrument, and a lot of that happens subconsciously, where you’re really trying to dig into the groove of what’s going on - trying to complement the duet partner, whoever that might be. So the influence isn’t demonstrated by me playing the same licks that I’d just heard, but in nuances of feel and tone, very subtle kinds of things.

"I never was one to really study other players. I didn'’t transcribe Tony Rice solos as a kid, but I would try to listen to the feel of what Tony Rice did and try to capture the crux of the intent of what was going on. The whole Not Too Far from the Tree idea reflects that, in that I’m obviously of that, and I do my own thing, but I know where it came from, and I don’t take any of it for granted."