We posted last week about the fact that bluegrass booking agency Class Act Entertainment and country management company Don Light Talent were joining forces to offer management services to selected bluegrass acts. Class Act handles dates for an impressive roster of bluegrass artists, including JD Crowe & The New South and The Whites. Don Light is well regarded in music business circles for his success in managing the careers of Jimmy Buffet and Keith Whitley, and is also said to have opened the first Gospel Music booking agency in Nashville, at one time representing The Oak Ridge Boys and The Lewis Family.

Part and parcel with the new services being offered, Mike Drudge of Class Act notes that they are also moving their offices from just north of Nashville to Music Row, now occupying space at 1013 17th Avenue South which was formerly home to legendary fingerstyle guitarist Chet Atkins’ offices. They note that all prior contact info is the same (PO Box, phone number, email, etc) but that they have a new fax number: 615-292-2396.

You may have noticed that yesterday’s post Darren Beachley to Join Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver was written by Kip Martin. Kip has been a member of Darren’s band for some time and we felt his first hand reporting on the story was very appropriate. In the coming month we’ll be introducing a number of Guest Contributors to The Bluegrass Blog. All of these contributors will be people whom we trust and have asked to participate because we feel they have some special knowledge or experience to share.

Guest Contributors will not necessarily write posts on any kind of regular schedule, though that may develop over time. For now their contributions will be occasional as seems appropriate.

We are very excited about this new addition to The Bluegrass Blog and hope you are as well.

by Kip Martin

Darren Beachley announced today that he has accepted a position as singer and bassist with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, filling the opening in Doyle’s lineup resulting from Barry Scott’s decision to leave the band.

Darren, a native of Jefferson Co., MD had been working in his own band, Darren Beachley and Maryland Line as band leader, guitarist, and on lead/tenor vocals when the announcement was made. The band will finish out its 2005 schedule, and Darren will assume his new role in Quicksilver on January 1st, 2006. A new CD, ‘To the Moon and Back’, had just been released on Blue Circle Records and is available at Darren’s website.

Possessing a rich, clear, sonorous tenor voice, Darren specializes in Southern Gospel and Bluegrass and counts Bobby Osborne as his mentor, and the ‘0044 Band’, the Seldom Scene, and Charlie Waller as strong influences. Darren began playing bluegrass as a pre-teen with his father and has played resophonic guitar with Bill Harrell and the Virginians, Paul Adkins and Borderline, and has performed and recorded with the Seldom Scene, Bill Yates, various US Navy Band side projects, Norman Wright, and recently filled in with Doyle Lawson’s band for a 3 week substitution stint last summer while Jamie Daily was on vacation. No stranger to Doyle’s music, Darren has been meticulously studying and practicing Doyle’s repertoire for almost 2 decades. He comes to the band prepared and eager to work. This is an example of a career dream being fulfilled.

“I, in no way, plan on replacing Barry, he is a great singer–I will just fill the slot and look forward to the challenge.” Darren remarked in his announcement, which first appeared on the DC Area Bluegrass List (DCAB-L).

[Editor’s note: Kip Martin is a member of Maryland Line, and a close friend with Darren, having played in several bands with him over the years.]

[Brance adds: I attempted to contact Doyle for comment, but have not yet received a response.]

Previous:
Barry Scott leaving Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver

The Grascals have been getting a lot of attention recently. They opened Parton”s arena tour last year after recording a duet with her, “Viva Las Vegas,” on their self-titled Rounder debut. They have gone on to open other shows for her and perform with her at various events. Earlier this month they opened Brooks & Dunn”s sold-out concert at Irving Plaza in New York. They won both Emerging Artist of the Year and Song of the Year from the IBMA.

It has now been announced that they will open ten upcoming dates on Dolly Parton”s The Vintage Tour.

For more information, including event dates and locations, you can visit grascals.com.

Here’s some encouraging news from our new friend, Richard Hawkins, editor of Bluegrass Ireland, the newsletter of The Irish Bluegrass Music Club.

The Bluegrass Ireland Blog is hereby officially launched at www.bluegrassireland.blogspot.com. The text of the last issue of Bluegrass Ireland newsletter is included for the record and for purposes of comparison. The blog will have much the same content and exactly the same purpose as the newsletter, which it will not replace; the main difference will be that news can be made available practically immediately, instead of having to wait for the next issue of the newsletter to be posted out. Bands and event organisers, please note: your shows can be publicised here as soon as we receive the information.

The inspiration and example of the original Bluegrass Blog is gratefully acknowledged, as is the much appreciated work of Alice Toner in setting up the Bluegrass Ireland Blog, and the cordial assistance of Eamonn Quigley.

We, in turn, humbly accept Richard’s kind acknowledgment, and wish both he and all the folks with The Irish Bluegrass Music Club great success with this venture.

We have posted previously about the blogging efforts of noted banjo player and author, Butch Robins. His descriptions of his travels in Australia were the focus of most of the blog entries of late, but Butch also recorded impressions of his time at the recent IBMA convention in Nashville on his main news page, though told second hand through his webmaster.

Butch has just posted some exclusive video on the site, in which he discusses, describes and then plays his versions of two noted fiddle tunes, Sally Goodin and Grey Eagle. He uses this opportunity to discuss how Bill Monroe approached playing traditional fiddle music, and how much Butch learned from him during his tenure as a Bluegrass Boy. Butch also recalls the impact that Bill Keith had on the bluegrass and banjo scene when he introduced the melodic, or fiddle tune style, to a larger audience with Bill Monroe in the 1960s.

Both of these tunes are ones that Butch recorded 30 years ago on the recently re-released Forty Years late on Rounder Records, and are performed largely in that melodic style, influenced by the aforementioned approach that Bill Monroe would take. The video is in the QuickTime format and runs approximately 8 minutes.

There are other video clips and a number of photo archives available on the site as well.

Bell Buckle Records is hosting their 3rd annual Bell Buckle Music Cruise. The cruise will sail to Coco Cay and Nassau, Bahamas on Royal Caribbean’s Sovereign of the Seas. The dates for the cruise are set for January 30 - February 3, 2006.

Rates start at $699 for an interior stateroom and go up to $999 for a junior suite w/balcony.

The Cruise will consist of: 4-night accommodations, Bluegrass Workshops, Bluegrass Seminars, Informal Jamming with the Stars, Stops in Coco Cay and Nassau, 24-hour Room Service, All meals, Casino, Health Spa, Children’s Activities, and Shipboard Activities and Entertainment.

Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike will be the host band for this Cruise, along with great acts like: David Parmley & Continental Divide, Goldwing Express, Wildfire, Jeanette Williams Band, Tennessee Heartstrings, Bluegrass Invasion, Bottomline, Smokey Greene, and The Slate Mountain Ramblers.

You can visit the website for more information and to order tickets at bellbucklecruise.com.

[NOTE: This would make a great Christmas present for a loved one, or a favorite blog author!]

On August 3, 2005, a tragic vehicle crash took the life of a promising young musician. 17 year old Jed Bulla, brother of noted fiddler Luke Bulla, was the victim of drunk driving when an automobile in which he was a passenger went out of control and flipped several times on I-65 just south of Nashville, TN.

The bluegrass community in Nashville has stepped up in support of the Bulla family, whose funeral and legal expenses have been substantial, and a concert to help raise some funds to allay these debts has been scheduled for Thursday, December 8 at the City Hall Entertainment Center. The benefit show will feature such prominent Nashville artists as Ricky Skaggs, Blue Merle (brother Luke’s band), Darrell Scott, The John Cowan Band, Jim Lauderdale, Wise Child and other special guests.

A silent auction will also be held at the show, with musical instruments and posters signed by the performers up for bid. Suggested donations for the show are only $20, and more details can be found on the Jed Bulla Memorial web site.

Jed’s father, Brad Bulla, himself a bluegrass banjo player, shared this poignant remembrance of his son:

“Jed had been playing fiddle since he was 6 years old and he was really taking off with his music. In fact, the last time I saw Jed, he was sitting at the computer with his fiddle and had just worked out Terry Morris’s version of Apple Blossom. He was getting ready for the Grand Masters Fiddle contest in Oct, and the National Fiddle Contest in Weiser was on his calendar for 2006. He was so proud of himself, and excited about the coming year. Just a few days before he died, Jed competed in a Flatpicking contest and a fiddle contest in Franklin, TN. He made the finals in open fiddle division. As a tribute to Jed, at his memorial service, about 20 plus fiddle players including Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, Tim O’Brien, Bryan Sutton Casey Driesen, Luke Bulla, and Stuart Duncan played Apple Blossom for Jed. It was very moving. This would have been Jed’s senior year and he died just a few weeks before his 18th birthday.”

Friends of the Bulla family, or anyone who would like to contribute to this effort but are unable to attend the concert, can make a donation via PayPal from the web site.

The Nashville Nobody Knows has just posted an interview with April Verch in their newest podcast. The podcast features a lot of music from April’s upcoming release as well as a good bit of background information and other points of interest.

This week, Candace interviews April Verch, who was in Nashville recently to perform for the IBMA, International Bluegrass Association Convention, held in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Candace and friends just happened to catch her performance in a small hotel room late night showcase, and we were wowed! Listen in and find out what the buzz is about, surrounding this gifted, brilliant composer and player, dancer and singer.

If you saw April at this year’s IBMA and enjoyed her music, then you really should check out this interview.

This coming weekend marks an historic first for our bluegrass cousins in Europe, as the first ever bluegrass festival in Lithuania will be held in the capital of Vilnius. Billed as Vilnius Bluegrass 2005, the festival runs November 25-26 and will feature live performances from several popular European bluegrass acts, instrumental workshops, continuous video presentations of US bands and festivals - and plenty of jamming.

This ambitious new event was organized by Algirdas Klova, a well known fiddler and EWOB representative in his country, who has also promised to send along some photos once the festival has concluded. Performers include Spruce Pine from The Netherlands, Trautengrass from Czech Republic, Lilly of the West from Bulgaria, Vixva from Lithuania, Kreny from Czech Republic and Jestres from Estonia.

The festival’s official web site can be found here, and the European World of Bluegrass site also has details in English. What a wonderful sign of the vitality of bluegrass music all over the world!

We just received another report from David Hollender, a good friend of The Bluegrass Blog, and a professor at the prestigious Berklee College Of Music in Boston, MA. He wrote to let us know about a recent performance at the school by The Del McCoury Band, and in particular on the powerful impact they made on both the students and faculty, and at least one member of the Boston media.

Students at Berklee College of Music packed a recital hall for a clinic by The Del McCoury Band on Wednesday, November 9. This is the first time a full bluegrass band has come to give a clinic at the college. Del McCoury, Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury, Jason Carter, and Alan Bartram spent over an hour playing, answering questions and talking with the students.
The band played songs from their newest album as well as requests for standards and tunes Del has sung throughout his career. The band obliged a request to play some numbers that student bands were playing this semester so they could watch the band demonstrate the concepts and techniques they have been learning. (more…)

Our old buddy Wichita Rutherford is at it again. Always staying just ahead of the curve, Wichita starts a video documentary podcast this week. Here’s the deal. Wichita plays (played) guitar in a band called The Over the Mountain Boyz. This band belongs to one Sherman Van Heffer. Sherman is quite unique as bluegrass singers go and Wichita is going to tell his story by way of a weekly 5 minute video podcast. The story is told documentary style with a narrator. You’ll see Wichita at his old pool cleaning job, see interviews with some bluegrass and country music greats, get insights into the music business, and hear some amazing bluegrass. Just remember, things are not always what they seem.

The 1st episode in this groundbreaking video podcast documentary starts this week, on November 23rd. Find it here.

[Update 11:13 AM: Here’s a link to a story about Wichita on podcastingnews.com. I would have posted this link earlier, but I couldn’t get their site to come up. It seems to working now though.]

We are delighted to note that Booie Beach, guitarist with Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, is home and recovering nicely from thyroid surgery. The LST web site reports that Booie was hospitalized earlier this month, and that fans and friends can send well wishes via their Contact page.

Sony/BMG recently came under fire for releasing CDs with XCP Digital Rights Management software. This software is a rootkit software and opened the door to virus writers. This form of content protection was so hotly debated (not to mention the fact that it earned Sony a few lawsuits and a boycott) that Sony/BMG has decided to pull the CDs and reissue them without the software. They have now released a list of the 52 CDs that contain the much debated XCP software. The list can be found here. Below I’ve highlighted the three discs that I think may be of interest to readers of The Bluegrass Blog.

20. Earl Scruggs - I Saw The Light With Some Help From My Friends - CK92793
23. Flatt & Scruggs - Foggy Mountain Jamboree - CK92801
30. Jon Randall - Walking Among The Living - EK92083

As they begin to re-release these discs, the item number is the thing to watch.

We will shortly be releasing new versions of these titles without the XCP software. You therefore need to check this list for both the name of the album and the item number (which can be found on the spine of the CD). If the item number is not listed below, your CD does not contain XCP content protection.

If you have already purchased a disc containing the software, Sony is offering an exchange program.

Mike Marshall and Chris Thile will be touring together during the month of January. Mandolin Cafe has a listing of the shows currently scheduled for January ‘06. The list includes dates, locations, and links to the venue website.

It’s possible that many of our readers will recognize the name Randy Wood, known for quite some time as one of the premier luthiers in the fretted acoustic instrument world. His mandolins and guitars were regarded as among the finest to be had when I first started playing bluegrass music thirty years ago, and neither their reputation nor their quality has diminished over time. Randy also offers custom banjos and resophonic guitars, and is considered among the very finest repairmen for valuable vintage instruments.

Many folks may not know that Randy recently built a concert hall adjacent to his shop in Bloomingdale, GA - quite near Savannah. Shows are held a few times monthly, and performers are drawn from bluegrass legends, as well as popular current bands and up-and-coming artists. A schedule of events can be found on Randy’s web site.

“Our concert hall is small (100 seats), intimate, and loaded with great sound. We take orders for tickets over the phone with a credit card, but do not reserve seating. We also have a great BBQ place right next door, and the food is reasonably priced.”

Savannah, GA is a common tourist destination, and Randy’s bluegrass concerts make it even more so - at least for bluegrass music lovers.

Following up on the post about Sean Watkins’ online CD release…

VH1 has several Nickel Creek videos available online, including the two music video releases from their latest Sugar Hill release, Why Should The Fire Die, plus three songs from that CD performed live in the studio for VH1’s Live @ VH1.com feature. Find all of the online video clips here.

Nickel Creek guitarist Sean Watkins has announced the release of his third solo project, Blinders On, and has enabled digital downloads of either individual tracks or the entire project from the Nickel Creek web site.

Individual tracks are offered for $.99 each, or the entire 15 song project can be purchased for immediate download for $9.99.

The Sean Watkins web site offers some interesting tidbits on each song, with lyrics, studio photos and Sean’s comments on each track, but oddly enough, no option we could find for listening to the individual tracks prior to making a purchase and enabling a download.

There is also no mention of a record company or label, nor a clear statement on that question, so it seems fair to presume that this is a project that Sean has undertaken on his own.

This past weekend, the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend welcomed its first set of recipients of their annual Gibson/Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend Scholarship program. The three recipients were selected based on demonstrated ability from a pool of very capable applicants aged 13-24, which were received from all over the United States. Not only were these three exceptional young people able to attend the weekend’s instructional seminars and stay on site at the hotel at no cost to themselves, they were also featured on a song during the Saturday evening Faculty Jam Concert.

This year’s recipients (photos below) were Aaron Williams (mandolin) age 14 from Blacksburg, VA, Christian Ward (fiddle) age 13 from Hesperia, CA, and Haley Stiltner (banjo) age 17 from Windsor, VA. All three were interviewed by Roanoke TV station WSLS, but the video does not seem to be available online.

These scholarships for young bluegrass musicians are made possible through the generosity of Gibson Original Acoustic Instruments, whose donation each year of a professional quality bluegrass instrument to be offered in a raffle funds the scholarship. This year’s raffle was for a new Earl Scruggs banjo, which was won by Sam Kniffen of Vermillion, SD.

The photos below were taken by Dave Roye, and more from RBW can be found on Haley Stiltner’s web site. There is even a video clip of this remarkable young lady jamming with the other terrific RBW scholarship winners on her site.

NewFound Road has signed with Rounder Records. They are currently in the studio, with Rob Ickes producing their first project for the label.

NFR has a journal on their site and the most recent entry contains this:

We”re honored to be a part of such a fine company. These folks have been nothing but a pleasure to work with. The band started our new recording this week in Nashville. Rob Ickes, resonator guitarist great and member of Blue Highway is our producer. He”s an awesome musician and a great guy to be around. We”re glad he”s a part of this first Rounder project. We”ll finish it in December and hopefully have it out before the Summer of 06″.