We had told you earlier this year that Michael Cleveland was planning to do some shows in 2006 with his own band, which he had named Flamekeeper. At the time, Mike was the fiddler with Dale Ann Bradley, a role he has recently relinquished after five years in order to pursue his new group full time. Joining Mike in Flamekeeper are two other recent Bradley alums, Pete Kelly on banjo and Jesse Brock on mandolin, along with both Audie Blaylock and Jeff Guernsey on guitars and vocals. They have not yet brought on a full time bass player, but Mike Bub and Marshall Wilborn are filling the slot until a permanent hire can be made.
The various members have some commitments that will complicate their early schedule, as Audie Blaylock has a schedule of dates with his own group, Redline, and Jesse Brock will be in Europe most of the summer, as he is getting married to Bulgarian bluegrass performer, entrepreneur and radio/tv personality Lili Drumeva.
As you might expect, Michael is excited about launching the new venture.
“We’re looking forward to getting this thing up and going and looking forward to seeing everybody out on the road. We’re looking forward to a good first year.”
Booking will be handled by Jim Roe at Roe Entertainment in Nashville.
Bluegrass Europe is a bi-monthly print publication which is sent to members of the European Bluegrass Music Association (EBMA). Written in English, it is also bound together with two other European bluegrass journals, the German language Bluegrass Buhne, and the Dutch Strictly Country. All three are delivered together, and the April/May issue is now out.
The English section contains an overview of the 35 year history of its sister publication, Strictly Country magazine, a guest editorial from Rienk Janssen, plus their concert and festival calendar. The Dutch section also highlights their 35th anniversary and the Bill Monroe post office, while the German pages cover Alison Krauss in London, the passing of Charles Wolfe and concerts, festivals and CD reviews.
The EBMA also wants to remind everyone that May is International Bluegrass Music Month, which will be celebrated in Europe with more than 80 concerts, festivals and other events under EBMA auspices. A listing of these events is included in the April/May issue of Bluegrass Europe, and separate copies of the guide can be obtained by emailing EBMA.
The month ends with a bang in The Netherlands as EBMA hosts the 9th annual European World of Bluegrass Festival and Trade Show, May 25-27. Designed as a European version of IBMA’s annual World Of Bluegrass event in the US, the EWOB seeks to foster cooperation among European artists, promoters and event producers while also expanding the audience for and interest in bluegrass music.
Officially released on March 21, 2006, Heartache & Hope, the newest record from Pine Mountain Railroad, has already fulfilled the hope the band had in the project.
Beyond the Rain, the gospel tune written by Mark “Brink” Brinkman, has charted at Number 1 on the PowerGrass.com Gospel Chart. Beyond the Rain has also made its first appearance on The Southern Gospel Top 50 chart, entering the chart at Number 42.
Kipper Stitt’s Laura Jean is currently Number 7 on the PowerGrass.com Gospel Chart.
Bandleader Kipper Stitt said this about the album’s success:
We are honored that these two songs from our Heartache & Hope album are already making chart appearances. And we’re very thankful for the many air personalities here and abroad who are giving so many spins to these and other tracks from our new CD.
Wichita Rutherford’s most recent podcast features an unusual interview. Most of the time he interviews bluegrass stars, but this time he interviews a rock star with some surprising ties to the music we love. The interview is with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppellin. Here’s what Wichita had to say about it.
He’s a big Bluegrass head. As you know his mandolin playing on the Zeppelin albums exposed millions of people to bluegrass and traditional American music. Great guy too.
We posted some time ago with the news that James Monroe, son of Bill and a bluegrass musician in his own right, was planning to open a bluegrass music park and concert facility in Franklin, KY. The debut event at the new James Monroe Bluegrass Music Hall is scheduled for this week and weekend, April 19-22. It’s a four day festival with performances by Monroe and his band, The Midnight Ramblers, plus Larry Sparks, Mac Wiseman, The Grascals and Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top X-Press.
Of particular note is the fact that Bill Monroe’s Lloyd Loar-signed 1923 Gibson F5 mandolin will be on display during the festival. This celebrated icon of bluegrass history is on loan from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, who had acquired the mandolin in September of 2005.
You can find some more details on the festival in the online edition of The Franklin Favorite, a weekly newspaper in Franklin, KY. The article erroneously describes Sonny Osborne as deceased (at least it did when we checked it last), so do don’t be alarmed by that reference should you read the text.
The next release from bluegrass gospel heavyweights, The Lewis Family, is expected to be delivered in time for their annual festival, held the first weekend in May. The CD, Flying High, will also be the subject of an upcoming edition of CMT’s Insider program. No broadcast date has been announced at this time.
We recently received a note from our friend Tom Mirisola, with Kel Kroydon banjos. Tom has resurrected this trade name, once an “off brand” of the Gibson company used to market less costly versions of their banjos, guitars and mandolins.
Tom wanted to share that a price increase is imminent, effective May 1, 2006. He also mentioned that he will soon begin offering the highly ornamented necks and resonators used in the Kel Kroydons for individual sale to builders and hobbyists, and that they will be displaying the banjos in Boston at Banjo Camp North in mid-May.
Visit the KK site for more details and contact information.
Another CD we should have included in Brance’s New CDs post yesterday is the debut recording from Wayne Scott, This Weary Way.
Wayne is the father of noted songwriter, Darrell Scott, who has made it a personal project to see these songs of his dad’s recorded - many of which he had not even heard until fairly recently.
“This recording may be the documenting of one of the most authentic country artists you’ve never heard. You be the judge. He is 71 now. He doesn’t understand why we have done this recording. Maybe you will. If you do, tell him.”
It’s not a bluegrass CD by any stretch, but primarily acoustic with prominent fiddle, and may be of interest to many of our readers.
Audio samples from all 13 tracks can be found on his web site.
We’ve been running updates every so often with news about bluegrass bands and artists who are developing a presence on MySpace.com, the network of “friends” which has become a particularly hot property, and an occasionally controversial, Internet destination. You can find our previous posts on MySpace and bluegrass here.
As we find new bluegrass pages on MySpace, or hear from bands who host a page there, we will assemble the info and post it here periodically. Here are a few that have recently come to our attention:
Important note! If you want to send us your MySpace info, please be sure to include your MySpace URL, as the search functions on their site will not always return the proper result based solely on your name.
The May/June issue of Bluegrass Music Profiles was mailed earlier this week, and should reach subscribers over this next few days. Included in this issue is a cover feature on Mountain Heart, on the occasion of their new CD release, Wide Open. Entitled, Wide Open, Keyed Up and Ready To Go!, the article is an in-depth interview with Steve Gulley and Jim VanCleeve, and as is the magazine’s specialty, gets them on the record with their personal reactions to the new project and the band’s success.
Also in this new issue are articles on Tim O’Brien, Edgar Meyer, Cedar Hill, Vernon McIntyre and a special remembrance of Louise Scruggs.
The sneak peek of the next issue (July/August) promises an interview with Marty Stuart. Marty’s latest CD is a live bluegrass release, LIVE at the Ryman.
BMP’s online news page also features an exclusive open letter from Josh Graves, Jr. on his dad’s medical condition. To quote briefly from the letter:
“If all goes well he will get to come home soon. He is already talking abuot the dates that are booked and how he wants to do them. There is no quitting in this man - my Dad. I don’t see how he keeps on going but he does. I hate to complain with a hurt foot or stomach when he has been through as much as he has and hasn’t complained at all. He says the man upstairs is taking care of him.”
Offering her listeners a rare gift of original songs with uncommon depth and beauty infused with time-honored values of traditional American Music, Diana Jones has been called the new Emily Dickinson.
Like Dickinson, Diana’s work is informed by the themes that have run through her life-love, loss, and redemption. Much of her music takes you on a journey back to her roots in the hills of Eastern Tennessee, though it’s certainly not a direct route. Adopted as an infant and reared in New York, Diana was eventually reunited with her birth family and the music that had always moved her.
This nostalgic collection contains 16 songs, 13 of which were written by James Christian. “Junior is best-known for being the lead singer and guitar/banjo player with the Craig County Boys for over 30 years, but not that many people know that he is also an excellent songwriter,” said Carol Lewis of the Oriskany Strings. The songs written by Christian are emotional and reveal a man of faith with a big heart and a deep love of nature. Many of them express a longing for simpler days and rural life and have themes that will resonate with residents of this area of Virginia.
There are 15 selections on the recording. We also have a special guest on our recording, Ray Legere of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Ray plays fiddle on 14 selections on this recording. Hes a Superb Fiddler player,mandolin player, guitar player and almost any instrument, he puts his hands on. Hes also played with almost everybody in Bluegrass Music. All the guys in this band are from the Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, area.
Noted bassist, old time banjo player and folk dance enthusiast Mark Schatz maintains a very informative web site which he updates periodically with news about his various activities in the music world. He has just recently posted a wealth of new material, including an in-depth look at a promotional tour he did with Nickel Creek last fall, a tour of the UK with the dance troupe Footworks, and a recent concert with String Masters in DC.
String Masters is an acoustic super-group that performs sporadically, and to which Mark refers as the Bluegrass Sessions band since this ensemble toured in support of B???la Fleck’s second Tales From The Acoustic Planet CD, subtitled The Bluegrass Sessions. The group consists of B???la Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton and Schatz. They performed last week at The Kennedy Center, and Mark posted a diary-like overview of the days surrounding the show.
Here’s a snippet:
April 4, the day of the show, was a long one. We headed to the venue at 2:30P and it was a whirlwind of setting up, sound checking and working out some remaining segments (including the banjo/fiddle/dance number). We had to sort out who was going to use ear monitors or wedges, and we ended up using a mixture of both. There were some technical difficulties with the monitor system, but when they were trying to sort these out we”d just get off of the mikes and gather in a circle to play since we had so many things to run through. Our front of house and monitor engineers, Richard and Zack (who have been with us for most of the BG Sessions shows), ran hard that day, but finally got most of the bugs ironed out and did a great job for us “? thanks, gentlemen!
Read the rest of the piece and other Schatz news on Mark’s web site.
Episode #24 of The GrassCast features two interviews. The first is with bluegrass legend Ronnie Reno. Ronnie discusses his TV show and a new gospel project he has underway. The second interview is with David Peterson of the band 1946. David discusses his new CD In The Mountaintops To Roam, as well as some producing he’s doing.
This GrassCast is 12 minutes in length and the file download size is 11 MB.
Below is our usual mp3 file for you to listen here or download. The GrassCast is also available in the iTunes music store and this episode marks our third enhanced podcast. The version available through iTunes contains photos and hyperlinks relative to the subject matter being discussed in the interview.
To subscribe with your own podcatching software, copy and past this url into the appropriate entry box in your software: http://www.thegrasscast.com/rss
Mountain Heart will be appearing this Saturday on the televised portion of the Grand Ole Opry broadcast on GAC TV. The show airs on the Great American Country cable TV network on Saturday, April 14 from 8:00-8:30 p.m. (ET/PT). It repeats the next day at noon and 7:00 p.m., and then again at 9:00 pm and midnight on Tuesday (4/18).
There is a great big bunch of bluegrass on the Grand Ole Opry this Saturday night. In addition to Mountain Heart, Del McCoury and Bobby Osborne (with their bands) will make appearancs during the show. If you want to listen over the air (650 AM out of Nashville) or via online streaming, to hear the entire Opry broadcast, here are the times to tune in for the bluegrass acts:
Mountain Heart - 8:00-8:30 p.m. and 12:00-12:30 a.m. segments Del McCoury Band - 9:00-9:30 p.m. and 12:30-1:00 a.m. segments Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top X-Press - 11:00-11:30 p.m. segment
posted by John on 04.13.06 @ 6:14 am Tag: The Ryman
The Martha White Bluegrass Nights at The Ryman concerts for 2006 have been announced. This popular Thursday night summertime series has run for the past several years, held in the historic birthplace of country music, the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville, TN, where the Grand Ole Opry radio broadcasts originated for many years. The old benches may be rough on the sitter, but the sense of history and nostalgia is palpable anywhere you find yourself in the theater.
Shows this year will include:
6/22/06 - Old Crow Medicine Show
6/29/06 - The Del McCoury Band with Larry Sparks & the Lonesome Ramblers
7/06/06 - Vince Gill with The Grascals
7/13/06 - Rhonda Vincent & The Rage with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
7/20/06 - Marty Stuart
7/27/06 - Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder with Cherryholmes
All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. (CDT) and tickets can be purchased for each concert, or for the entire series. If you anticipate traveling to Nashville this summer, you can get ticketing details by email, or by calling the Ryman Box Office at (615) 889-3060.
Alecia Nugent was a recent guest on XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction (Channel 14) with host Kyle Cantrell. The show has already aired once, but will be repeated several times in the coming days, starting tonight at 8 PM.
On another note, Bobby Osborne will be in-studio to discuss his new album and his 55+ year career in the music business this Friday at 3:00 PM EDT. That show will be rebroadcast Saturday morning at 8:00 EDT and Monday at 9:00 PM. EDT.
As we have mentioned previously, if you are already an XM subscriber, Bluegrass Junction can be found on channel 14, or you can listen online when away from your XM receiver. Non-subscribers can register online for a free, 3 day online trial of XM Radio.
We promise that we aren’t trying to turn The Bluegrass Blog into Craig’s list! It’s just by pure coincidence that there have been announcements about job openings twice this week that may be of interest to the fine folks who visit us online.
Singout! magazine is looking for a managing editor. This a full time, salaried position at their offices in Bethlehem, PA with a complete benefits package. Requirements include experience in publishing plus basic computer skills, copy writing and editing, and supervisory skills. Some travel and overtime are required as well.
They have the job posted at CareerBuilder.com with more information and salary details, plus contact info, or you can reach Mark Moss at SingOut! by email or phone (610-865-5366 x203).
We have posted many times about the online magazine, Silver Strings, published monthly by Angie Sumpter for new pickers getting started on banjo later in life. Angie puts herself in that category, and started the magazine after meeting other folks in the same situation, and recognizing the many similarities in the problems they were encountering - and which related especially to the difficulties of tackling a demanding pursuit as mature adult.
Each month, Angie publishes a mix of reviews, interviews and first person accounts of the struggles - and successes - of other “grownups” who are learning to play.
The April issue is now available for downloading from her web site, as a PDF file. There is an article on traveling around the world with a banjo, another on switching from guitar to banjo, and one on the joys of sharing music with residents at a retirement home.
This week Candace interviews Leigh and Eric Gibson, a brothers duo from northern New York state. Fab sibling harmony, great original songs, great covers, and very honest talented young men. Also included is their new video, a cover of the Ray Charles classic I”ve Got A Woman.
The interview is 30 minutes long. You can also see their music video for the song I’ve Got A woman. It’s just below the link for the interview.
The guest for tonight’s Song Writer Chat at Bluegrass Guide’s web site will be Becky Buller. The chat starts at 8:00 p.m. and instructions to log in can be found on their web site.
Becky currently is the fiddler with Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike and is an accomplished, award-winning songwriter as well. She took first place in the bluegrass division of the 2001 Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at MerleFest, and has had songs recorded by Rhonda Vincent, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Mark Newton, David Parmley and Continental Divide, the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band, and IIIrd Tyme Out.
The Song Writer Chat is hosted by Rick Lang, and recent guests have included Bob Amos and Mark “Brink” Brinkman.
While this site is built on the open source weblog system Wordpress, along with a number of third party plugins, it has been heavily modified and appended to suit our needs, including but not limited to the user interface, contact form, commenting system, user registration system, and a whole bunch of administration features behind the scenes.
The design, layout, polls, and everything else were developed and programmed by Brance Gillihan with invaluable aid, consultation, and input from Rodger Gillihan and John Lawless.
The ad management interface and tracking system is built on the open source program phpAdsNew.
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Another CD we should have included in Brance’s 
Episode #24 of 
