We posted last month about Slidin’ Home, the Rebel release from John Starling & Carolina Star due out on February 20. Assisting John in Carolina Star are fellow original Seldom Scene members Tom Gray and Mike Auldridge, with a guest appearance from Emmy Lou Harris.

The publicist for this new project, Lotos Nile Media, has posted a video interview with both Starling and Harris which includes audio from the new CD, and discussion and remembrances of their early days in the Washington, DC folk and bluegrass music scene, as well as the genesis of their collaboration on Slidin’ Home.

The interview is conducted with George Massenberg, who produced the new CD, as well as several Seldom Scene projects and The Trio CD with Emmy Lou, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt for which he won a Grammy in 1988. Starling speaks quite highly of his experiences with Massenberg.

"George recorded the Seldom Scene’s Act 3 and Old Train, demonstrating to us that a ‚Äòlive’ approach could also sound ‚Äòslick,’ using multi-track recording. As time passed, we, as did others, became addicted to the slick, layered approach offered by multi-track, and strayed from the live studio approach. For the new project, we felt that modern, high resolution digital recording and mixing techniques, a good acoustic environment, and musician practice prior to, not on, recording day, could once again make the process fun for everybody."

Go to the Lotos Nile site to watch the full interview.

You can hear audio samples from Slidin’ Home on the band’s MySpace page, where you will also find their 2007 show dates.

We heard yesterday from Alan Bibey, fresh from a week of recording with his new band, Grasstowne. He reports that they are about halfway finished with the new project, as yet untitled, which has already been set for a June 15 release on Pinecastle.

Alan voiced excitement, not only about recording with such talented musicians as Steve Gulley, Phil Leadbetter, Jason David and Lee Sawyer – with guest appearances from Stuart Duncan and Tim Crouch on fiddle – but also for the material they were cutting, and the arrangements.

The songs we have for this project are the strongest of any recording I have done. There are three Steve Gulley tunes, one from Tim Stafford, and a Craig Market song.

I wrote a new instrumental for this project, called Grasstowne City Limits. It’s a Monroe-feeling tune in B. I can’t wait for everybody to hear this CD!

Bibey said that he is singing three or four tunes, and Gulley the rest, and that almost all are never-before-recorded songs. He especially mentioned one remake, a high-lead version of Lizzie Lou, which the Osborne Brothers cut in 1974.

The band will make their official debut this weekend at the SPBGMA Convention in Nashville, appearing on Friday (2/2) at 6:30 p.m. (CST).

After that, they are back in the studio next week to try and complete overdubs and vocals, and put this highly-anticipated initial release in the can.

Blue Moon Rising won the Entertainer of the Year vote here in our unofficial reader poll last fall, and this year they’re getting off to a good start. The band is featured in two recent news stories, both of them complete with video footage.

KFYR channel 5 TV in Bismarck, ND ran a story 4 days ago about Blue Moon Rising playing in a local school and promoting bluegrass music. The band not only performed for the kids at the school, but also donated 10 guitars to the school’s music program. The story is here, and at the bottom there is a link to a two minute video clip of the news story, including comments from students and teachers, and performance shots of the band. Very nice!

Then 3 days ago KXMB TV, the CBS affiliate on channel 12 in Bismarck ran a story about the band’s appearance at Bismarck State College. The band performed Saturday at the school including not only a concert, but also workshops on fiddle, mandolin, and songwriting. This story also includes a video clip. I was unable to get the video to play on my Macbook, it probably works on a Windows PC though.

I’m excited to see bluegrass bands performing at high schools and colleges and spreading the music to a new generation. Thanks guys!

Today, January 30, is the official street release date for the Kenny & Amanda Smith CD Tell Someone, which we have been telling you about for some time. It’s their first all-Gospel bluegrass release, and it is generating a lot of attention outside of the expected bluegrass circles.

They have posted a couple of early reviews on their site, from Strictly Country, Country Standard Time and from Christian Music Central.

If you want to hear the CD, it can be found at CMT.com, where you can listen to the entire CD online. It is now avaialble for sale from most online and store front retailers, and in the iTunes Music Store. It can also be ordered directly from the band.

Kenny and Amanda also recently shot music videos for two songs on Tell Someone: I Know Why and Stepping On The Clouds. As soon as they are posted online, we’ll be sure to let you know.