About This Song

Lonesome Feeling was written by Billy Henson. The Osborne Brothers first recorded it on May 4, 1966 and released it on the album Modern Sounds of Bluegrass Music in 1967 on Decca. Their version has Bobby Osborne's high voice out front and Sonny's banjo, and it set the shape of the song most people play.

Plenty of jam players learned it from somewhere else, though. Herb Pedersen released it on the album Lonesome Feeling in 1984, and he named the record after it. Josh Williams also cut a version that a younger crowd picked up. Other recordings include the Bluegrass Alliance on Kentucky Blue in 1976 and Jim and Jesse.

The chart above is short and simple: the verse and the chorus use the same eight bars in G. Watch for the Am. Because the form is so short, breaks come around fast. Take one pass, or two if the circle wants a longer solo, and settle that before the kickoff.