Bluegrass Blog

We got a note today from Carol Beaugard alerting us to the fact that she will have Greensky Bluegrass live on her Lonesome Pine RFD radio program on Friday morning (7/30). The show airs from 9:00 a.m. to noon in the new York City metro market on WFDU-FM, 89.1, and via online streaming at www.wfdu.fm.

Carol fills in a few details…

“Band members Anders Beck (dobro), Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Dave Bruzza (guitar), Mike Devol (upright bass) and Paul Hoffman (mandolin) will play an explosive hour of their signature mix of traditional/jam band rock influenced Americana sounds.

Greensky Bluegrass is touring in support of their recently released fourth album, Five Interstates, which was produced by Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth. The album features twelve original tracks and one traditional bluegrass song (a nod to the deceased King of Bluegrass, Jimmy Martin) and showcases the band’s songwriting and playing talents.  Since winning the 2006 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Contest, Greensky has played over 170 shows a year. Recent highlights include sharing the stage with musical heroes, such as Tony Rice and Peter Rowan, Sam Bush, Yonder Mountain String Band and Railroad Earth.”

Greensky will perform live starting at 11:00 a.m. Should you miss the show live, it will be available in the WFDU archives after the program airs.

Mountain Fever Records has signed No One You Know to the label, and will release their new album, Calm Before The Storm on August 31.

The West Virginia band features Rachel Burge on mandolin, Don Anderson on bass, Ramie Bennett on banjo, Bruce Jones on resonator guitar, and Lance Gainer on guitar. All save Jones share in the vocal duties.

The debut single from the CD, Looking for A Sign, was released earlier this week via Airplay Direct, where you can hear the track online.

Here’s a taste of their sound from YouTube:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Loar has introduced a new hand-carved, solid wood mandolin. It’s an A-model designated as the LM-300-VS, their first x-braced A style.

The LM-300 is designed with fewer visual appointments, allowing them to offer it for sale at $374.99. The binding along the fingerboard and sides is a single layer of ivoroid and the headstock has a flowerpot inlay.

Still, they offer a solid carved spruce top, solid maple back and sides, Grover machines and an adjustable truss rod.

You can see more photos, get detailed specs and find a dealer at www.theloar.com.

Well…  it’s the first one I’ve heard about.

Brian Hilligoss, a Chicago-based artist and producer/director has decided to fight back against the way technology is squeezing out music in the entertainment world – by using the latest technology. When his partner obtained a prototype 3D camera from Panasonic for evaluation, the idea for this new project was born.

Hilligoss assembled a band from Chi-Town bluegrass pickers, and set out to produce a 3D video of Leave Your Heart at Home, a song by Randy Albright that is included on Brian’s These Boots CD.

“My buddy Fred Blurton at Fred Blurton Productions and I have worked together in the video and film biz for the last 13 years. He is actually the brains of the operation when it comes to 3D. For this project, I just focus on the ‘grass.’

The technology side of this story is very compelling for those who want to hear about it. What makes it unique is that we shot in stereoscopic 3D. It makes you feel like you are right next to mandolin player while you watch it. It’s as if they are standing right next to you and you are on stage with the musicians.

This camera from Panasonic that we got our hands on isn’t available on the market yet. The only way to shoot stereoscopic 3D had been with a West Coast two camera rig – we shot this with Panasonic’s 3D camcorder that has 2 lenses.”

Seen in the video with Brian are Larry Kohut on bass, Chris Walz on banjo, Keith Baumann on mandolin, Bill Hall on guitar, Rob Anderlick on reso guitar and Arielle Luckmann on fiddle.

Of course the question that springs immediately to mind is “where will we be able to see this in 3D?”

“We are planning a premiere here in Chicago and have some other things in the works to preview it at 3D theaters, but nothing solid yet as this is so new. The only place to really see 3D is at a theater, Best-Buy or your house – if you have a 3D TV. Market projections are that 2 million sets will be sold this year.

Direct TV has a 3D TV channel that just launched this month, and our goal is to create 3D content – primarily music for the web that will eventually be brought into your 3D TV.

As far as we know – the only two things shot for country music period in 3D have been something recent for Brad Paisley and then Kenny Chesney’s Summer movie. Then us!”

Bluegrass in 3D…  how cool is that?

NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts has a feature up that features an impromptu performance from Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain.

This series of short concerts are shot and recorded in the offices of NPR Music, specifically at the desk of All Things Considered host Bob Boilen. Hence the name.

Fleck, Meyer & Hussain offer two pieces from their collaborative CD, The Melody of Rhythm (Bubbles and Bahar). You can watch/hear/download audio or video at NPR.org.

So sayeth Chris Pandolfi in another of his “day in the life” videos of The Infamous Stringdusters on the road.

This time our heroes are in Seattle to perform at the Tractor Music Club – but first a bit of wake boarding! Chris captured much of the fun, and more than a few wipe-out moments.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can keep up with the ‘Dusters at www.stringdusters.com.

Slowly, but surely histories of record labels are emerging.

Next in line is The Starday Story: The House That Country Music Built, the recounting of the history of Starday Records, one of the most influential record labels of the 1950s and 1960s. Under the guiding hand of President Don Pierce, Starday was responsible for creating the largest bluegrass catalog throughout that era.

Written by Nathan D. Gibson, a graduate student in the Folklore and Ethnomusicology department at Indiana University in Bloomington, with Don Pierce, this book traces the label’s origins in 1953 through to the 1968 Starday-King merger.

For those parts of the book relating to bluegrass music, the author conducted several insightful interviews with Don Pierce, Bill Clifton, Jesse McReynolds, Betty Amos, Aubrey Holt, Dee Kilpatrick, Roni Stoneman among many others. In addition, he received expert advice from noted bluegrass historians Neil Rosenberg and Dick Spottswood.

The illustrated and fully annotated 272 page book consists of several chapters relating the label’s story, a bibliography, a record listing, a list of records for recommended listening and an index.

The Starday Story: The House That Country Music Built (University Press of Mississippi ISBN-13: 978-1604738308) is scheduled to be released on January 15, 2011.

Rural Rhythm Records recently added Rodney Dillard & The Dillard Band to their roster of artists. The band’s new CD, I Wish Life Was Like Mayberry, will be released on the Rural Rhythm label this September (9/28/2010).

Rodney has a long history in bluegrass music. From my home state of Missouri, he was part of the legendary family band, The Dillards, who made many appearances on The Andy Griffith Show as the Darling family.

In 2009, The Dillards were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. My wife and I had the privilege of sharing a table with Rodney and his family at the Special Awards Luncheon where the induction ceremony took place, and you couldn’t hope to meet a nicer bunch of people.

Rural Rhythm Records has a nice write up about Rodney, including a bit of interesting history concerning the band’s involvement with The Andy Griffith Show.

In 1962, THE DILLARDS, who had a new recording contract with Elektra Records, were asked by the producers of The Andy Griffith Show to play a bluegrass-playing family (The Darlings), whose patriarch was to be played by popular Hollywood actor Denver Pyle… and to this day THE DILLARDS are seen nearly every day somewhere in the world thanks to the still enormous popularity of The Andy Griffith Show re-runs. October 2010 is the 50th Anniversary of the first airing of this popular show.

Rodney Dillard wrote and collaborated with others to write such classic songs as “There Is A Time”, “The Darlin’ Boys”, “Ebo Walker”, and “Dooley.”   These songs, plus more DILLARD and MAYBERRY classics, can be found on their upcoming album.

In addition to these classic Dillards tunes, the CD also contains four new original songs, and five episodes of the popular radio show Mayberry Minute.

Coinciding with the CD’s release, Rodney Dillard & The Dillard Band will be performing at the 2010 World of Bluegrass in Nashville, TN as an official showcase performer.

Barry Scott is on the hunt for a mandolin or guitarist who sings high tenor for his recently reformed edition of Second Wind.

Scott and his entire band parted ways not long ago, but Barry has assembled a new group, with just this one piece missing. Anyone who would like to be considered for this position should contact Barry by email or via his Facebook account.

The previous members of the band will be putting something of their own together soon. More news on that shortly.

Rural Rhythm Records has announced August 24 as the release date for the debut album from The Bartley Brothers, Hit The Road. The record will feature 8 new songs by guitarist Rick Bartley, whose material you have heard on recent projects from Junior Sisk and J.D. Crowe & the New South.

Brother Shayne is on mandolin, Josh Hymer on banjo and Jayd Raines on bass. All four band members sing and their sound is hard hitting and traditional.

The title track has been out as a single to bluegrass radio since April, so you may have already heard it over the airwaves. If not, here’s just a taste.

Hit The Road:

Pre-orders are available now from Amazon.

UPDATE 8:45 a.m. - The Bartley Brothers have just announced that they are holding auditions for a bass player and tenor vocalist. To be considered, the band asks that you contact them by email (bartleybrothers@aol.com), or phone (859-321-9874).

Banjo picker Tim Davis and mandolinist Matt Hiser have collaborated on a new album of bluegrass instrumentals called Flying High.

Other than the title cut, written by Hiser, it’s a set of tunes that should be familiar to bluegrass listeners, though not all from the traditional canon. They have solid versions of favorites like Earl Scruggs’ John Henry, Sally Ann, and Pike County Breakdown to Don Reno’s Follow The Leader and Bill Monroe’s Kentucky Mandolin.

They also offer their take on David Grisman’s E.M.D. and Tony Rice’s Manzanita among the 10 tracks, with Wyatt Rice on guitar and Ron Stewart on fiddle. Jonathan Campbell plays bass, and both Kris Davis and Jonathan Buckner add guitar as well.

Flying High was primarily recorded at Tim’s home studio, with Wyatt adding guitar in his studio, and Ron adding fiddle in his. Stewart did the final mixing and mastering.

Tim shared a few words about how this project came to be:

“The band that I played with, Chosen Road, had wanted me to do a CD for some time but I’m not the type of player that really likes to play instrumental numbers on the banjo. I enjoy playing more in the context of a band. So I figured to make things easier on me I would recruit the mando player for us at that time, Matt Hiser.  We each picked out about 6 tunes, and picked the 10 strongest ones. Once that was done it came together pretty quick with Ron’s help.”

On the opening track, you can hear Davis paying homage to two of his heroes. He kicks off Groundspeed in a reverential Scruggs style, and follows the fiddle solo with a near-perfect transcription of Scott Vestal’s second break from his debut solo album, In Pursuit Of Happiness. It’s a very demanding solo, and Tim nails it down.

Groundspeed: 

Hiser’s Flying High shows him to be a fine mandolin man in something of an Alan Bibey style, with a knack for a good tune to boot.

Flying High:

You can hear audio samples for all the tracks at CD Baby, where you can purchase tracks or the entire album for download.

The hip-hop/bluegrass mashup known as Gangstagrass has been nominated for an Emmy.

The Gangstagrass track Long Hard Times To Come serves as the theme song to the FX series Justified. The track has been nominated for an Emmy in the category Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music. Emmy winners will be announced on August 29, 2010, so we won’t know until then if the unique blend of hip-hop and bluegrass will take home the prize. Similar to other awards programs, there are five finalists in each category.

Rench and Tone-Z, the principle musical forces behind, were not expecting such recognition.

“I am excited that Justified is getting recognized with an Emmy nomination for having a great theme song. The show took a leap and used Gangstagrass, and it is great to see them rewarded for taking a chance on something creative and unusual. T.O.N.E-z and I are still in shock that we are Emmy nominated.” - Oscar “Rench” Owens

Long Hard Times To Come was produced for use in TV show, but Rench and Tone-Z also teamed up to produce a full length CD of bluegrass/hip-hop music. The CD is titled Gangstagrass: Lighting On The Strings, Thunder On The Mic. If you’re interested, check it out, but be warned, this isn’t your grandmother’s bluegrass!

Read our previous post about the CD for audio samples and some comments directly from the producer.

Country Standard Time uses the recent release of their latest CD, Wildwood, as the springboard for a lengthy piece about alt-bluegrass road warriors Chatham County Line.

The article by Brian Baker, conducted largely as an interview with Chatham County Line guitarist/vocalist Dave Wilson, starts with recognition that they have drums on the new record.

Before bluegrass purists hyperventilate over this turn of events, it should be noted that CCL – Wilson on guitar, Chandler Holt on banjo, upright bassist Greg Reading and multi-instrumentalist John Teer – have no designs on rewriting the bluegrass rule book. In road dates around “Wildwood,” they will be appropriately drummerless.

“Adding a drum set up is almost more trouble than reward,” says Wilson. “We travel really tight. We have just our instruments and a couple of microphones, and we really dig the short sound check. We want to give people a completely organic show; what you see on stage is exactly what you hear. To add drums, we’d have to change our stage set up so much that it becomes a different band.”

Dave also discusses the way the band’s sound has evolved leading up to this, their fifth CD.

“The first record was, ‘We want to be a bluegrass band,’” says Wilson. “The second album was, ‘We are a bluegrass band, check us out,’ the third record was, ‘Hey, what about these songs and these stories that we really like?’ and it could be a bit more mellow, and with number four, we brought in more pedal steel and piano. Greg‘s an amazing steel and piano player so why hide his talents? This one is just an extension of that.”

You can read the full article at www.countrystandardtime.com.

Here’s a look and listen to one of the songs from Wildwood, Out Of The Running.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can find more video and audio from the new album on the band’s web site.

Can lightning strike twice? Rounder Records and Sony Picture Classics are hoping so as they plan the July 27 and 30 releases of the soundtrack and the new film, Get Low.

It’s a quirky, 1930s period piece set in the rural south, anchored by a proven Hollywood star. The soundtrack features music from Alison Krauss, and popular bluegrass musicians (The Steeldrivers) appear in the film. Sound familiar?

The movie stars Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek and Lucas Black in a true story about Felix “Bush” Breazeale, a rough-hewn Tennessee recluse who threw a funeral party for himself before his death that drew more than ten thousand mourners in June of 1938.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The score for Get Low was written by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek and Jerry Douglas, with incidental music from Krauss, The Steeldrivers and more. In addition to new tracks from those popular bluegrass/acoustic artists, there are classic cuts from The Ink Spots, Bix Biederbecke and Paul Whiteman.

Here’s a track list:

• Lay My Burden Down – Alison Krauss
• If I Didn’t Care – The Ink Spots
• Jesus Come For Me – The SteelDrivers
• Sitting Mule/Drive to Town – Score – Jerry Douglas
• Drive to Town for Clothes – Score – Jerry Douglas and Stuart Duncan
• No Haircut – Score – Jerry Douglas
• Farewell Blues – Paul Whiteman
• Monkey Bay – Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer & Russ Barenberg
• Whiskey Before Breakfast – The SteelDrivers
• East Virginia Fast – The SteelDrivers
• North – Score – Jerry Douglas
• Bush Shows Maddie Around – Score
• Angelina Baker – The SteelDrivers
• The Mystery of Felix – Score
• I’m Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover – Bix Beiderbecke (aka Billy Murray & Jean Goldkette Orchestra)
• My Blue Heaven – Gene Austin

You can hear audio samples on the Rounder web site.

Guardian debuted their new Professional Fiberglass mandolin case (CG-065) at the Summer NAMM show in Nashville last month. They had previously introduced fiberglass cases for banjo, guitar and cello.

Like all the Guardian products, this case is designed to offer the protection and durability of pro flight cases that cost as much as three times the Guardian retail price of $239.99 for the mando case. It uses a thick layer of fiberglass for impact-resistance and protection from water, plus several layers of padding on the interior of the case.

The case doesn’t appear yet on the Guardian web site, but you can find a list of dealers there to contact for more information and availability.

Oddly enough, summer is the slow season for bluegrass news each year. All the bands are touring like crazy, but unless someone jumps ship, there isn’t as much new information to share.

So we plan to use this next little while to try and get caught up on all the new CDs that have come over the transom since the hot weather hit. And so we begin…

Fairview Avenue is new young band from New York state who write and record original music written within the group. They consist of Tony Califano on mandolin, Liz Hopkins on bass, Scott Hopkins on banjo and Morrie Safford on guitar. All four sing, write and help arrange the music.

Their debut, self-titled CD features 12 tracks, 7 written by Califano, Hopkins and Safford. Their style is contemporary and varied, as is deftly described by Pete Wernick in his liner notes:

“Fairview Avenue hails from the not-famous-for-bluegrass hub of Albany, NY. Yet they’re clearly steeped in bluegrass music and related folk and country forms, and achieve a high level of self-expression through these stylistic channels.

They blend these flavors deftly into their bluegrass so that the listener experiences a varied landscape of moods and musical feelings. A steady sprinkling of well-executed vocal harmony and instrumental surprises leads us to expect the unexpected, a welcome and uncommon treat in the sometimes sound-alike world of new bluegrass bands. In less experienced hands, the variety might jolt the listener or sound forced or dubious. But these folks know how to make it work as an honest expression of who they are. No masquerade here. When they sing, you know where they’re from, and yes, the train they sing about runs in the Hudson Valley, not the Shenandoah.”

How ’bout a taste of their sound? Here’s one written and sung by Tony Califano.

Hudson Valley Train: 

And a hot banjo tune from Scott Hopkins.

Plankton: 

It’s safe to say that these folks are serious about their music, but not so much so that they can’t display a sense of humor about it all. See what I mean in this clip of them covering The Beatles’ Helter Skelter.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can hear more audio samples from Fairview Avenue at CD Baby, and on the band’s web site.

We wrote back in April about Nu-Blu, the terrific bluegrass band from North Carolina, when their most recent CD, Nights, was released. They had been caught in the crossfire when Pinecastle Records closed in February, and ended up releasing the album themselves.

Now Nu-Blu can claim the title of Country Band of the Year as announced at the 3rd Annual Carolina Music Awards Show this past Sunday in Raleigh.

The Carolina Music Awards functions like a regional People’s Choice Awards, with members of the listening public nominating and voting for the winners each year. Awards are given in rock, country, hip-hop and R&B plus categories for DJs, models and producers. Youth awards are also given.

Nu-Blu is Daniel Routh on guitar, Carolyn Routh on bass, Kendall Gates on mandolin and Levi Auston on banjo. You can find out more about the band, and hear some audio samples from Nights, on their web site.

Have Bass Will Travel… That’s the name of a clever YouTube video created by AKUS bass man Barry Bales, and of the video contest we are running on The Bluegrass Blog in conjunction with the recent release of his AcuTab bass instructional DVD.

The contest promises to be a great deal of fun, and offers the opportunity for a number of bass players to win some valuable prizes. Six finalists will each receive an autographed copy of Barry’s DVD, A Solid Foundation to Acoustic Bass, and a set of D’Addario HH610 Helicore bass strings.

The first place winner will reap a bounty of upright wonderfulness. In addition to their finalist prizes, they will also get a custom soft bass case from Colorado Case, plus free registration and accommodations at The Bass Strummit in January 2011. Total retail value of the top prize is in excess of $900. Not too shabby!

Barry shot and edited the video at his old home place to highlight a few of the non-traditional methods he employs to get his bass from point A to point B.

Click here to view the embedded video.

To enter, simply create your own video showing how you get your bass around. It could be a look at how you get your doghouse into an unlikely vehicle, how you prepare it for the road, or just about anything that fits the contest theme: Have Bass Will Travel. Quality camera work and slick editing are not required; wit and good humor will be most highly prized.

Entries will be accepted until August 20, 2010. Your video can be posted as a video response on YouTube, or you can post it there and send us the link. Before entering, please read the complete contest rules here on The Bluegrass Blog.

Use your imagination, and have some fun. Who knows… you could end up with a load of free stuff!

Here’s a couple more good radio options to consider for today (7/21).

At 11:00 a.m. (EDT) this morning, Donna Ulisse will be on Sirius-XM’s Bluegrass Junction with Kyle Cantrell. She will be on the Track-By-Track program, playing through all the songs on her latest CD, Holy Waters, an all-Gospel project from Hadley Music Group.

If you miss the show this morning, it will repeat this week on the following schedule (all times eastern):

• Wednesday, July 22 – 9:00 p.m.
• Sunday, July 25 – 11:00 a.m.
• Wednesday, July 28 – 12:00 a.m. (technically midnight, Thursday 7/29)

Then this evening, Kent Gustavson will be on the air with Jay Allen on Blue Ridge Backroads (WBRF Blue Ridge Country 98.1 FM).

Gustavson is the author of Blind But Now I See, an unauthorized biography of flatpicking legend Doc Watson, recently published by Booming Twig Books. He is on the faculty of Stony Brook University in New York, and hosts Sound Authors, a blog talk radio program.

The Watson book is an in-depth look at the career of this remarkable artist, taken from a variety of published sources and Gustavson’s research.

Look for Kent on with Jay at 9:15 p.m. (EDT). WBRF broadcasts from Galax, VA at 98.1 FM, and online at www.blueridgecountry.com.

This week’s edition of Music City Roots on WSM will feature another chance to catch The Boxcars live – on the radio at least.

Regular readers here know that we have been singing the praises of this group since they first formed late in 2009. They kept the poweful one-two punch of Ron Stewart (banjo) and Adam Steffey (mandolin) from the Dan Tyminski Band, and have Harold Nixon on bass, John Bowman on banjo/fiddle and Keith Garrett on guitar and vocals.

The Boxcars have only been touring this past six months, so a great many bluegrass fans not yet had a chance to hear them play. It’s an extremely powerful sound, not to be missed when the opportunity arises.

So, by all means, tune in to WSM on Wednesday night (7/21) at 8:00 p.m. (EDT) to hear them on Music City Roots. The show broadcasts at 650 AM in Nashville, and online worldwide at wsmonline.com.