"Circle II" features largely acoustic, bluegrass music instrumentation with a line-up of contemporary country music artists that includes Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris and Ricky Skaggs. Other artists represent the rock, folk and pop genres, including Levon Helm from The Band, and Bruce Hornsby. Tracks were all recorded in one take, with no overdubs, making the outstanding musicianship particularly noteworthy on John Prine's 'Grandpa Was A Carpenter'; John Hiatt's 'One Step Over The Line', with lead vocals by Hiatt and Rosanne Cash (Johnny's daughter); and the moving wartime ballad 'Mary Danced With Soldiers', sung by Emmylou Harris. The Grammy award winning "Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two" was certified gold.