We have posted several times this past few weeks about the upcoming CD release from country superstar, Alan Jackson. It is produced by Alison Krauss, and was initially described as being intended to have a bluegrass flavor, though the subsequent sessions took a more mainstream country turn.

We were in communication recently with Dave Denman, a member of a very early iteration of Krauss’ Union Station, and who received a call from her when she started tracking the AJ project. He ended up contributing on six different tracks, including Alan’s take on Herb Pedersen’s Wait A Minute, made into a bluegrass classic by John Starling and The Seldom Scene. Dave sang tenor, and Sam Bush baritone on this track. What a treat it would be to hear that one on country radio!

Dave also mentioned that former Union Station bassist, John Pennell, had a song of his included on the new CD. It is one called As Lovely as You, and was written back when both he and Denman were members of Alison’s band. Pennell contributed a number of songs to early Alison Krauss recordings, such as Every Time You Say Goodbye and Dark Skies.

The new CD, as yet untitled, is expected in September (9/26 release), and a single, Like Red On A Rose, is already being played on country radio. That song was written by Robert Lee Castleman and Melanie Castleman. Alison has recorded a number of Robert Lee Castleman songs on her recent projects, including such popular tracks as Let Me Touch You For Awhile, The Lucky One and Forget About It.

Westvon Publishing has announced the release of the first two volumes in their Hot Banjo Licks series on HotBanjoLicks.com. They are configured to be sold digitally, and purchasers can immediately download tabs in a PDF booklet, and accompanying MP3 audio files - or order a CD to be sent by mail.

The first two titles are Kick-offs, Vol. 1 and G Licks, Vol. 1, and are targeted at intermediate banjo pickers looking for new licks presented in a straightforward fashion, outside of the structure of full songs. These new offerings are a collaboration between Dave Russell, a banjo teacher with 30 years experience, and Sherrie Chekal, a graphic artist who plays banjo as well.

They have plans for several more volumes in this series, such as Endings, Back-Up and Tag Licks.

Free samples are available on their web site.

Tim Graves, former Osborne Brothers dobro man, and nephew of reso-pioneer Josh Graves, has a new CD available on Pinecastle Records.

Titled The Good Things Outweigh The Bad, the new project features Tim as both lead vocalist and dobro player, along with Dickie Nugent on guitar (tenor vocals), Bennie Boling on bass, Duane Bowling on banjo (baritone vocal), and Tim Laughlin on fiddle and mandolin.

A track listing and audio samples from several of the tracks can be found on Tim’s web site.

The new CD isn’t officially released until September 5, but is currently being shipped to radio, so expect to hear it on the air soon. Pre-release orders (for immediate shipment) are available on Tim’s site as well.

Though known primarily as a bluegrass Gospel band, Carolina Sonshine’s newest CD release, The Country Gentleman, is a collection of tributes to Charlie Waller. Other than the title track, written by band member Dennis Cash as a remembrance, all of the songs on the CD are ones that Charlie had recorded over the course of his long career.

Included on this project are such Country Gentlemen classics as Matterhorn, Traveling Kind, Brown Mountain Light and Legend Of The Rebel Soldier, among the 14 selections offered on the CD.

Carolina Sonshine is Dennis Cash on mandolin, Tom Langdon on banjo, Wayne Ratley on bass and Danny Stanley on guitar. Jason Barie was guest fiddler on this new Waller tribute release.

Audio samples can be found on the Mastershield Records web site. Click on the CD image (upper left), then scroll down to the bottom of the resulting page, where you can select audio tracks under the CD cover image via a pull down menu.

The following is a contribution from Kip Martin, a semi-regular guest contributor to The Bluegrass Blog.

I first became involved with the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend a few years ago when flatpick guitarist extraordinaire Richard Bennett was on staff. I”d just toured Europe with Richard, Jimmy Gaudreau, and Mike Auldridge and was caught up in a whirlwind of gigs all over the country, recording, meeting people, and learning how to play very challenging, jazz-tinged, bluegrass-oriented music. I looked at RBW as a fun break where I could meet people, spend time jamming, and just relaxing. As a bass player, my only duties were to support the esteemed staff in ensembles in the classes, jam with anyone and everyone needing a bassist, and to provide support for the staff of legendary performers and renowned instructors. I worked for free, figuring it was good for my career, and that it gave me a chance to give back the bluegrass community that had been treating me so well. I expected I would relax and kick back a bit.

I was not prepared for what was to be one of the finest musical experiences of my life and is now my favorite single bluegrass event every year. Relaxing weekend? I think I slept about 4 hours the entire time!

Let me explain what makes the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend so special. And by special, I mean that no matter who I am playing with, I make certain that weekend is left open for my annual trip to Roanoke. Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend offers three important benefits that no other bluegrass instructional event can offer.

First, you will not see a more accomplished staff. In the past, Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend has featured legends as classroom teachers such as J.D. Crowe, Alan Bibey, Herschel Sizemore, Kenny Smith, Randy Kohrs, Bobby Hicks, and Dr. Pete Wernick. Other luminaries have included Ron Stewart, Alan Shelton, Bill Evans, Wyatt Rice, and so many other bluegrass stars that have shaped and influenced the sound of Bluegrass over the years. No other bluegrass “school” features such a highly acclaimed faculty. (more…)

Brad Davis, good friend and occasional contributor to The Bluegrass Blog, has a song featured on the American Idol web site. They have created an offshoot site called American Idol Underground to promote independent artists. A wide variety of genres are included on the site, which also features a number of stylistically-themed online radio stations.

We got a note on Friday from Brad’s management that one of his songs had been entered in an online contest on the new site, with fan voting determining the winner, much like on the TV show.

We have entered Brad Davis’ song “Cypress Walls” in a song competition on American Idol Underground. The way to increase his chance of winning is if his fans go on-line and both nominate his song for the “Big Push 2″ contest and rate his song high (a 5 on a scale from 1 to 5).

So if you’d like to help Brad out with this, here is what to do:

Go to Brad’s profile page and look to the far right under “nominate for big push 2.” If you will click that link and create a (free) listener account for yourself, you can nominate Brad. No cost, no big deal.

That’s it! You can also join Brad’s Fan Club on this site, or email the song to others.

Independent artists/agents can create a free profile on the site, and submit music for airplay on Idol Underground radio.

Huber banjos has just announced the latest in their signature artist series banjos, the Huber Ron Block model. The new banjo is patterned after the pre war flathead Granada that Ron has played for years as a member of Alison Krauss & Union Station, and is a faithful replica but for the use of a one piece flange in place of the tube and plate fitted in the original.

Ron’s Huber model is made with a curly maple neck and resonator, finished in dark brown. The neck is wider than the stock Huber, and inlaid with the classic Hearts & Flowers pattern, as is the fiddle cut headstock. The banjo is gold plated, engraved with the same Granada pattern as Ron’s pre war, and finished with an antiqued binding to approximate the appearance of an older instrument. Like all the Hubers, it features the Huber tone ring, and their 3 ply, hide glue maple rim and rosewood fingerboard.

The Ron Block model will sell for $4950.

In keeping with Ron’s personal set up preferences, each Block model Huber will be assembled with an 11/16” bridge, and with the head tensioned more loosely than the common Huber practice - tuned to a G rather than a G# note. They will be shipped with a slightly heavier string gauge as well, again as per Ron’s set up.

Steve Huber told us that he was excited about the new Block model while it was being prototyped, and felt like it sounded great when it was first assembled. When Ron came by the shop and played it himself, though, that distinctive tone was immediately present.

“Ron gets a terrific tone, and this set up really suits his right hand. We are pleased to be able to offer this replica banjo for Ron, and for the many banjo players out their who admire his sound.”

Additional photos can be found on the Huber web site.

Marty Rabon joins Kyle Cantrell this week for the multiple broadcasts of his regular Studio Special program, which runs on XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction (Channel 14). Typically, the show features a mix of interviews, discussion and live performance, and we expect that Marty’s will follow suit.

The debut broadcast was earlier this morning, but there are several more chances to catch the show, starting with Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m.

Airtimes for the Studio Special broadcasts are:

All times shown are Eastern.

We got a note from Eddie King with Phoenix, letting us know that they had recently received copies of their new CD, Tailor Made.

Eddie plays mandolin with the Virginia-based group, which also includes David Coffey on guitar, Jim Green on bass and Randy Driskill on banjo. All four band members sing, and have extensive experience performing in established bluegrass bands like Lonesome River Band, Bill Harrell & The Virginians, and Michelle Nixon & Drive.

Tailor Made features 12 tracks, nine of which are band originals. Ron Stewart guests on fiddle, as does Dale Perry, who recorded the project in his studio, on bass vocals.

You can find more details on the band’s web site, where sample audio tracks are available as well.

Fiddlers, and fans of fiddle music in the Nashville area, have made a point to catch the occasional concerts held at The Violin Shop on Old Hickory Boulevard. The shows are always intimate, performed with no amplification in a 60 seat music room, and dependably spontaneous and improvisational.

A collection of these concert performances have now been assembled on DVD, featuring some of bluegrass music’s finest fiddlers. Andy Leftwich, Jim VanCleve, Aubrey Haynie and Bruce Molsky are showcased on The Violin Shop Concert Series, Vol. 1. Guests and supporting players on the DVD include veteran fiddler Bobby Hicks, as well as Ronnie Bowman, Byron House, Cody Kilby, Wyatt Rice, Charlie Cushman, Alan Bibey, Kent Blanton, Adam Steffey, Clay Jones, Ron Stewart, Jason Moore, and Steve Gulley.

The Violin Shop is run by Fred Carpenter, and is both a favored repair facility for Nashville fiddlers, and their local meeting place as well. Carpenter spent several years as a member of The Tony Rice Unit while also serving a violin building apprenticeship in California. He moved to Nashville in 1987, and opened The Violin Shop while also touring with Emmy Lou Harris. His repair and restoration staff at the shop has grown over the years, and Fred now focuses on buying and selling fine violins. He remains active as a player touring with Kathy Mattea.

Carpenter said that there was never an intention to either record these live shows, or release them on DVD.

“My intention with the concerts was just to build a room where we could have some fun shows. Jeff Wyatt Wilson, a Nashville filmmaker, happened to come to the Violin Shop the day before our first show, looking for 3 seconds of fiddle playing for a documentary he was working on. We got to talking, one thing led to another, and this project just became what it is as the discussions evolved.”

The DVDs can be purchased on The Violin Shop web site.

The Del McCoury band is currently the featured subject in a UPS Special Delivery feature on Amazon.com’s site. This is a regular segment in their weekly Amazon Fishbowl video, where an artist or author personally delivers an order to an Amazon.com customer.

The online video shows Del and the boys popping out of the UPS truck to deliver his new Gospel CD, The Promised Land, to a surprised and delighted Amazon/UPS customer in Louisville, KY. Not only do they hand deliver the CD, they also pick and sing one for him out in the street.

To watch Del’s segment, visit the Amazon Fishbowl page, and click on the small “Show Playlist” button to display the menu choices. Once you select the McCoury segment, you can click “Hide Playlist” to see the clip in a larger size.

Thanks to our friend Mark Byrum, who alerted us to this bit on Amazon.com.

The Ocala Star Banner newspaper in Ocala, FL ran a very nice tribute in this morning’s edition, recalling Lonnie Knight, founder of the long running Withlacoochee Bluegrass Jamboree, who passed away on July 23. Knight was 79 years old at the time of his passing, which followed a prolonged struggle with cancer and diabetes.

The article describes his passion for bluegrass music, and the festival he founded 26 years ago, as well as his good humor and attention to detail.

You can read the entire article here.

Cindy Baucom is giving away an IBMA Awards Show vacation getaway package through Knee Deep In Bluegrass, her syndicated radio program. The winner will receive 2 VIP tickets for the International Bluegrass Music Awards show in Nashville on September 28, plus 2 tickets to the IBMA Fan Fest (9/29-30) and 3 night’s accommodations at the Holiday Inn Express in Nashville.

Entries can be submitted on the Knee Deep In Bluegrass web site, and only one entry per person is allowed. The deadline for entries is August 31, 2006.

Cindy’s show is currently heard in 64 radio markets each week. They recently held another contest in conjunction with Deering Banjos, and Cindy asked us to congratulate John Belzle from Minor, TX who won a new Deering Goodtime banjo.

Tresa Jordan is the name of a new CD project from this bluegrass and country singer/songwriter, just released on South River Road Records. A debut single, I Turn To Country, has been promoted in recent weeks to country radio, and a second, Ain’t No Grave, is currently being promoted to bluegrass show hosts.

The material is often modern country in form and arrangement, but the accompaniment is acoustic with a bluegrass band, and some percussion. Tresa has a background in bluegrass, and had been performing with Ernie Thacker’s band until his serious accident in April. She has now formed her own group to support the CD, and is appearing at festivals this summer when she isn’t visiting radio stations.

Bluegrass artists who appear with Tresa on this CD include Wanda Vick on fiddle, Barry Bales on bass, and The Infamous Stringdusters who support Tresa on her cover of Kenny Loggins’ Danny’s Song.

Audio samples and more details can be found on her web site.

Episode #39 continues on the heels of last week’s discussion with Chris Pandolfi. This time, we are talking with dobroist/vocalist Andy Hall, also of The Infamous Stringdusters, and a fellow graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Andy talks a bit about the band, and how his Berklee degree in recording and audio production helped prepare him for his music career.

This GrassCast is a bit shorter than most, coming in at 6 minutes, with a download size of 6.8 MB (for the MP3 file).

Below is an mp3 file which you can hear now, or download to your computer. The GrassCast is also available in the iTunes music store as an enhanced podcast containing photos and hyperlinks relative to the subject matter being discussed in the interview.

Listen now:
Direct Download: ep39_andy_hall.mp3
Subscribe with:
Free Download: The GrassCast iPodder software

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

The Dixie Bee-Liners could be seen as an anomaly in the rapidly expanding world of bluegrass and acoustic music - a male/female, singer/songwriter duo playing Appalachian-inflected original music with their band, originally from a base in New York City.

On second thought, maybe there isn’t much of an anomaly at all, as artists based in in every corner of the globe seek to claim, and redefine, the music that originated in the southeastern mountain regions of the United States. Recent entrants have included The Earl Brothers, playing a minimalistic sort of mountain string music from CA, and G2, a bluegrass band in Sweden whose music sounds very much like what I encounter here in southwestern VA.

The Bee-Liners are Brandi Hart and Buddy Woodward, both accomplished bluegrass players, singers and songwriters. While Buddy is a New Yorker, Brandi hails from the Bluegrass State, growing up in Lexington, KY. Brandi will be a showcase songwriter at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass this fall, and Buddy will be appearing before audiences throughout the south this fall reprising his multiple roles in the touring show for Man Of Constant Sorrow: The Story of the Stanley Brothers, originally staged at The Barter Theater in Abingdon, VA.

Their debut release was a self-titled EP CD containing 8 songs, was widely praised by critics, with the “culture clash” between the Appalachians and the Big Apple a major part of their sound. It spent six weeks in the Top Ten on the Roots Music Report bluegrass chart after its release. (more…)

John Cowan is the guest on the latest edition of 5 Minutes With Wichita, the occasional podcast from our buddy Wichita Rutherford. Their discussion is hilarious, as is generally the case, especially their duet recitation of a song Wichita composed about a pair of love-struck turtles.

You can listen to the podcast on Wichita’s site, or via iTunes.

The folks at BluegrassCountry.org are in a festive mood this week, as they celebrate the start of their fifth year of cybercasting bluegrass music, and two weeks of special programing and events in recognition of this milestone.

This Internet bluegrass radio outlet has been a pioneer in this field, and is an offshoot of WAMU, the large public radio affiliate in Washington, DC. Residents of the DC area will recall that WAMU was once a premier source of bluegrass, folk and acoustic music over the air, with several hours of daily programing, plus the long running Bluegrass Overnight show that spun bluegrass in the wee hours of each night. When the station moved to a talk/news format several years ago, bluegrass lovers in the area were dismayed, and many expressed their frustration to the station management.

Enter, BluegrassCountry.org, which was WAMU’s answer to the dilemma, where shows and show hosts who were on the air prior to the switch found a home on the Internet, and which has since grown to include hosts and shows from all over the world. Bluegrass programming is available as an audio stream all day, every day, delivered in a commercial free environment.

As a part of their anniversary celebration, they are running a major fundraiser, hoping to generate $50,000 to secure the continuation of the cybercasts. If you listen to public radio, you are familiar with this sort of annual appeal, and will perhaps be receptive to the idea of helping to support commercial-free radio on the Internet. They have quite a ways to go to reach their goal, and are asking bluegrass lovers worldwide to consider becoming a member and supporting them financially. (more…)

The August 2006 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited is on its way to subscribers, with the new edition of Lonesome River Band on the front cover. The LRB article by Bill Conger is primarily about the recent personnel changes in the band, with bandleader Sammy Shelor describing the difficulties of managing a band - and also being a bus mechanic!

There is a nice feature on banjo picker Mike Scott, and one on fiddler Mike Tatar. Kate Buford contributes a lovely remembrance of Don Stover, with comments from several modern banjo pickers whose playing was influenced by Don’s. The National Bluegrass Survey saw a lot of movement, with four new songs and two new albums making the chart this month.

Some of these articles and features will be available on the BU web site on or about the issue’s publication date of August 1

Incorporated within the Pioneer Music Museum in Anita, IA, is located America’s Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame, a project of the National Traditional Country Music Association. Founded in 1976 with a wide-ranging induction of “nearly everyone of national stature involved with traditional country, bluegrass, or old-time music,” the AOTCMHOF seeks out not only performers worthy of this distinction, but also those involved in broadcast, promotion, production and various support ventures in the realm of traditional country, old time and bluegrass music.

Each year’s inductees are nominated by existing Hall Of Fame members, and there are a number of bluegrass figures who will be received in 2006. In addition to such country luminaries as Jim Ed Brown and Johnny Horton, bluegrass singer/songwriter Larry Cordle and The Johnny Vincent Family (including Rhonda) will be inducted during the 31st National Old Time Bluegrass N’ Country Festival August 28-Sept 3 in Missouri Valley, IA.

Kirk Brandenberger of Prime Cuts Of Bluegrass is also on this year’s list.

Find details about the Hall Of Fame and the festival by visiting the National Traditional Country Music Association’s web site.