This Sunday NPR’s Weekend Edition will feature Tony Trischka in an interview and performance segment. The segment will air at 9:40 AM ET on Sunday January 21, 2007. It will be repeated at 11:40 AM and 1:40 PM the same day. I’m told the segment may also include Steve Martin and Bela Fleck.

We told you about Tony’s new CD, Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular, back in November of last year, both here and here.

The album will be released this coming Tuesday, January 23, 2007.

We recently told you about Ricky Skaggs’ plans for a tribute album to THE bluegrass band (Monroe with Lester and Earl). Now we bring you news of a CD that is slated for a March 20, 2007 release. The album is a collaborative effort on the part of Skaggs and pianist Bruce Hornsby. The CD will be on the Sony BMG/Legacy record label and includes covers of Hornsby’s hit Mandolin Rain and Rick James’ Super Freak. Skaggs also contributes an instrumental he’s written entitled Stubb. Kentucky Thunder is the band for recording so there should be a strong bluegrass element present.

Hornsby has commented about how much he learned from the process of recording with Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.

Ricky Skaggs is a deep musical soul, one of the great keepers of the traditional and mountain music flame. It was so inspiring — and educational — to make this record with these virtuoso musicians.

Skaggs and Hornsby will be touring together this spring, doing at least one show before the record’s release. That first show is scheduled for this Sunday, January 21, 2007, at New York’s B.B. King’s Blues Club (tickets are $60 at the door and the show starts at 7:30PM).

That is the official first show anyway. Last night however, the duo performed to an invitation-only audience at The Factory just outside Nashville, TN. Reader, Nashphil, was apparently on hand for last night’s performance and gives a review of it in a post he just wrote for THE B, the user contributed portion of this site.

The show is to be part of the CMT Crossroads series and is set to air on February 24th at 9PM ET/PT.

At this time neither Skaggs’ nor Hornsby’s websites list any other shows beside the one scheduled for this weekend, but we have it on good authority that they will be touring together, to some degree, this spring, so an announcement should be soon forthcoming as to other dates.

We posted about the Ricky Skaggs signature Master Model F5 mandolin when it was announced at IBMA ‘06, and again when it first appeared on Gibson’s web site.

The mandolin is being officially introduced this week at the Winter NAMM show, and Gibson has released a short online video of Ricky playing, and talking about the new signature model. It is officially known as the Ricky Skaggs Distressed Master Model, and is closely modeled on his 1923 Lloyd Loar F5.

The video can be found now on a special NAMM show page on Gibson’s site. If that page is removed after the show, the video may make its way to Gibson’s YouTube page.

We found two interesting articles online that should be of interest to banjo pickers, and folks who enjoy banjo music.

The first is a piece in today’s Washington Post (1/19/07) on John McEuen. Written by Post staffer Richard Harrington, the article covers John’s long career in music, from the early days as a high school banjo buddy of comedian Steve Martin, through The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and the Will The Circle Be Unbroken album, to his current activities writing an autobiography and hosting a radio show on XM.

You can read the whole piece on the Washington Post site, though a brief, free registration may be required.

The other piece is on progressive banjo man Tony Furtado, and is found, oddly enough, on the Modern Guitars Magazine web site. It is a lengthy interview with Tony where he discusses both his banjo and guitar playing, and his musical influences, and which serves up a nice career overview of this gifted artist.

Find it online at Modern Guitars Magazine.

Bluegrass fans everywhere are indebted to the songwriters who create the songs performed by our favorite artists. One such writer is Donna Hughes. I first met Donna in NC at a birthday party. There were many of us there jamming and playing songs we like, some traditional, some newer. Donna would occasionally sing one of her songs and we would all be amazed at the writing of this young woman. Not long after that she wrote a song that was later recorded by Alison Krauss and Union Station, My Poor Old Heart.

Now Donna is releasing a new record on the Rounder label that features 12 original tracks written by Donna, as well as two tracks additional tracks she did not write (I won’t tell you what they are, but you’ll want to hear them.). The album title is Gaining Wisdom and release date is scheduled for February 27, 2007.

Legendary guitarist Tony Rice took the helm as producer of the project. A job he sought out and initiated.

I was over at the home of my friends Steve and Kathi Fox, and they had Same Old Me on the hi-fi. After a few songs, I had to ask ‘Who is that?’ The more I listened to her music that day, the more I heard in it. The idea of producing an album of hers intrigued me…As a performer, she has great flexibility. She could sit down at a really good Steinway at one venue, and the next night play guitar in front of a straight-ahead bluegrass band. This makes producing her a great challenge: you want to illuminate what is recognizable and classic about her music - to make clear her very strong ties to bluegrass - while remaining true to what is so special about Donna.

Tony called Donna and suggested that she record another album of her material and let him produce it. Donna, being a long time fan of Rice’s music, was quick to agree and soon a deal was cut with Rounder Records. (more…)

In October of 2006 banjo player Jody King fell off a ladder and broke his pelvis. He was hospitalized and underwent surgery. One month later he was back in the hospital for two additional surgeries to treat infection. He continues to wear a wound vac, and visits his doctor 3 times weekly.

In addition to his own mounting medical expenses, he has medical bills from other family matters. They are all on the mend at this point, but the expenses have been quite high.

In an effort to help offset these expenses, The Jeanette Williams Band will host a benefit concert for Jody at the Fairview Ruritan Club in Galax, VA this Sunday January 21, 2007, at 3-7 p.m. Tickets are $10 each and additional donations are welcome.

Many of Jody’s friends in bluegrass music will be there to perform and take part in the fund raising efforts.

Featured performers include:

• Bailey Savage & Broken Wire (with Jody’s student Nick Keen on mandolin)
• Jeanette Williams Band
• New Vintage (Special Reunion Performance!)
• Sammy Shelor
• Shannon Slaughter
• Ronald Inscore
• Alyssa Emerson
• And MORE!

Additional information is available online at the Bluegrass In Galax website.

Parker Guitars has introduced their first acoustic/electric bass guitar, unveiled this week at the Winter NAMM show in Anaheim, CA. Parker has been known primarily for building electric guitars and basses for rock musicians, but have more recently developed instruments for acoustic and jazz players as well.

The PAB40 features an American Black Walnut body, Parker’s patented feedback suppressing Soundslot system, and an exclusive customized Fishman Matrix Pickup system designed to offer natural acoustic bass tones.

It will carry a list price of $1799 and ships with a hardshell case.

We couldn’t find the PAB40 on the Parker web site, but it should appear there soon. You can consult their dealer list to find a retailer near you who might have more information.

Pete Wernick, aka Dr. Banjo, has announced his bluegrass banjo and jam camps for 2007. The first is actually underway now in Boulder, CO with another set to kick off there next week.

Many of his camps are scheduled in conjunction with major festivals, making it convenient to brush up on your picking or jamming skills, and catch your favorite artists in concert.

The complete schedule of camps can be found on Pete’s web site.

We received a note recently from Guillaume Veillet, who until about two months ago was a prominent roots and acoustic radio host in France. He had been a strong supporter of bluegrass and old time music on the air, and is surely familiar to artists and labels who offer promo service to European radio.

Guillaume wrote to let us know that he has resigned from his radio post to assume the editor’s chair at Trad Magazine, which he described as the main French-speaking print publication for folk and world music. They have been publishing for 20 years, and distribute 8,000 copies every two months.

He is hoping that the labels, publicists and artists who had been sending him new releases for airplay will continue to send them, but for review in Trad. Audio CDs, books and DVDs are all welcome, and two copies of each item should be sent. Guillaume said that every CD submitted will be reviewed, even if only with a few lines, and contact info is always referenced. He adds that only CDs sent with full packaging (jewel case or digipack plus booklet or insert) will be considered.

The address to send them is:

If your French is sound, you can visit Trad’s web site. You can also reach Trad by email or phone/fax (00 33 1 69 58 72 24 / fax : 00 33 1 60 83 21 46).

One of the hottest underground collector’s item for serious fans of the early days of bluegrass music have been the various audio tapes, CDs, videos and DVDs of live Flatt & Scruggs performances from the 1950s and 60s. Folks who remember those days recall that Lester and Earl seemed to be everywhere back then, and these bootleg copies of their many television appearances have become cherished keepsakes for fans, and students of the banjo in particular.

While furtively trading copies of these TV appearances, a common topic of discussion would be why these classic performances were never released commercially. Surely there was an interest in such a venture, both among fans and financially, so the refrain would go.

At long last, it appears that a set of Flatt & Scruggs TV shows is to be released on DVD, with two volumes expected in March from Shanachie. There are no details yet shown on the Shanachie site, but we did find pre-release ordering available from Amazon.com.

Both volumes are tittled Best of Flatt & Scruggs TV Show - Classic Bluegrass from 1956 to 1962. Amazon.com has no details about songs, but orders are being accepted there now for both Volume 1 and Volume 2.

These DVDs will surely be widely available from bluegrass-oriented resellers once they have been released (3/13/07). It appears that distribution will be handled by Koch, should any retailers want to contact them about carrying it.

There are a number of new posts on The B - our user-submitted section of The Bluegrass Blog - which are worthy of some attention. This is where any registered user can post news or information that they would like to share, or request information from other readers.

Like all posts here on The Bluegrass Blog, registered users are invited to add their comments - and some discussions have become quite heated, and taken on a life of their own. Registration is quick and free, and required to enable us to prevent spambots from littering the site with junk entries.

Some recent posts on The B have heralded the new web site from mandolin legend Herschel Sizemore, a site dedicated to classic cardboard show posters, some thoughtful comments about the value of regional bluegrass societies, and information about a number of festivals.

We invite you all over to visit The B, and to consider submitting items of your own for publication there. The rules are few, but strictly enforced:

1. You must be a registered user at The Bluegrass Blog.
2. Your post must be germane to bluegrass or acoustic music
3. No profanity or abusive language is tolerated
4. All posts are subject to editorial review before publication, and submissions will not be accepted if they fail to meet the criteria above.

Please have a look at these recent posts on The B, and add your own thoughts as well.

Bluegrass legend Larry Sparks will be lending his talents to the fight against cancer later this month. Arcadia, IN youngster (he’s 11 years old) Eric Taylor was diagnosed with cancer when a tumor was found on his spine last year. Apparently it’s a rather aggressive from of cancer and has left Eric in a state of constant pain in his back and without feeling in his legs. As the doctors continue to fight the cancer, the family’s medical expenses are adding up (their second child is due in February).

To help the family offset these rising medical expenses, a charity event, including a concert, raffle, and auction, will take place from noon to 10 PM on Saturday, January 27th at Hamilton Heights Middle School in Arcadia, IN. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children, free for 6 and younger.

The concert features performances by Larry Sparks, Diamond Hill Station, Revival Ridge, Jackie Kincaid, The Rock Bottom Mining Company, The Circle City Bluegrass Band, The Bluegrass Briar Hoppers, Friends & Strings, Linda Lee with Night Train Edition including Billy G Miller formally of the “Platters.” The show will be hosted by Cary Allen Fields of The Fields of Bluegrass Radio Hour.

The charity auction will feature donated items, including Pacer’s tickets, musical equipment, CDs, gift certificates, and merchandise from area businesses. All will be auctioned off by a national auction house in traditional style, and raffle tickets will be available for purchase on selected items, as well.

An appearance by Indianapolis Colts tight end Ben Utecht is also planned during the day.
More information about the event can be found here.

Donations can be made to:

Eric Taylor Trust Fund
c/o Key Bank
100 S. Peru Street, Cicero, IN 46034
Or call: (317) 984-9150

We have word that Larry Cordle is only one song away from having the mixes finished on his new CD, Rough Around The Edges. The title cut is a duet with Travis Tritt. Randy Kohrs also sings a duet on the disc, a story-song that evokes thoughts of Frank and Jesse James, Last Train Robbery. Cordle’s band, Lonesome Standard Time, is featured throughout the CD. Band members include Kristen Scott-Benson on banjo, Booie Beech on guitar, Chris Davis on mandolin, Kim Gardner on dobro, Jenee Keener on fiddle, and Mike Anglin on bass. Anglin also sang the baritone parts and Chris did most of the tenor. Wayne Benson also guests on a couple tracks on mandolin.

The CD was recorded, with the exception of the title track, and mixed at Slack-key studios, owned by Randy Kohrs, in Nashville, TN. The project was engineered by Mike Latterell and Randy, and it was mixed by Larry Cordle & Randy Kohrs.

Randy tells us:

The last song, notably, is an incredible, heartfelt original with just Larry playing guitar and singing into the mic, all one take, no overdubs.

Larry is known far and wide as a prolific song writer and this project is no exception.

The project will have 13 new songs on it, 9 of which were written or co-written by yours truly, and Kimbo & Booie wrote the instrumental that’s on there.

Cordle is planning on a March 27, 2007 release while still talking to record labels about picking it up “but if not, I’m just gonna go on and put it out myself.”

The title cut has already been released to radio and currently resides at #17 on the Bluegrass Unlimited National Survey. We look forward to hearing the rest of the disc come March!

We’ve posted a few times recently about the upcoming Rounder project from banjoist Tony Trischka, Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular. It features Tony paired in the studio with some of the most celebrated banjo players alive, including Earl Scruggs, Bela Fleck, Bill Emerson, Tom Adams, Noam Pikelny, Scott Vestal, Kenny Ingram and even comedian-cum-banjo picker Steve Martin.

The CD is due for release on January 23, and Tony has been out touring this month in support of the project. Last Friday (1/12), Tony brought his double banjo show to The Kennedy Center Millenium Stage in Washington, DC. Noam Pikelny supplied the second banjo, and they were supported by Michael Daves on guitar, Brittany Haas on fiddle and Skip Ward on bass.

The concert was recorded, and the video can be viewed online at the Kennedy Center web site. It’s an hour long video (in Real Media format), so save some time when you can linger over the performance.

There are actually three Trischka shows which can be viewed on The Kennedy Center site - the Trischka/Pikelny concert from last week, plus shows from 2001 and 2004.

On another Noam-related note: we found a piece on the John Cowan Band site that included a Detroit Free Press obituary for Noam’s grandfather, Nate Shapiro, who passed away earlier this month. Mr. Shapiro was a prominent and admirable member of the Detroit community, and his life is recounted in brief in the obituary.

Our condolences go to Noam and his family as they mark Mr. Shapiro’s passing.

We heard this week from Adam Nash, who has recently launched a site, NYCbluegrass.com, to help provide a central source for information on bluegrass events in the New York City area.

The site includes an events calendar, a message board and a blog with news of interest to bluegrass lovers in NYC and its environs, plus links to area venues that feature bluegrass music. The site is just getting off the ground, and Adam invites anyone with information about a bluegrass event in the Big Apple to post it at NYCbluegrass.com.

Adam says that the site was born of his difficulty in finding out where he could find live bluegrass in the city.

“The reason I launched the site was my growing frustration in not being able to know what day of the week any band was playing. There was no central resource except banjoben.com. That site is invaluable, but it did not have a real calendar which anyone can look up a particular day of the week to see what music is playing on that day. So I took it upon myself to have a site built and NYCbluegrass.com was born.”

Visit at NYCbluegrass.com.

We’ve posted previously about the new group Barry Scott was putting together after leaving Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver last year. The new band is Barry Scott & Second Wind, and I’ve just noticed that the website is up and running for the new group. The site features biographical info about each of the band members, their tour schedule, photos, a few video clips, and more.

The band consists of Barry, Jason Leek, Steve Reeves, and Joe Dean Jr. You can read more about each of the band members on their respective bio pages at the band website.

They are currently accepting bookings for 2007, and inquiries can be made via the contact page on the band website. (Click on Schedule and you’ll see all the info you need to book the band.)

Good luck guys!

Daniel Grindstaff isn’t pulling a prank, he’s become April’s Fool. At least that’s my interpretation of the instrumental that is the title cut on his new CD. In the last 6 years or so Daniel has played banjo with a number of well recognized artists in bluegrass music including Jesse McReynolds, David Peterson, Charlie Sizemore, and the Osborne Brothers.

The CD is a mixture of instrumentals and vocals, probably leaning a little more toward instrumentals. Guest artists on the recording include Adam Steffey, Steve Thomas, Jesse McReynolds, Kent Blanton, Buddy Spicher, and the most recent vocal recording of the Osborne Brothers (since Sonny’s retirement) along with Grascal, Terry Eldrege.

Sample tracks can be heard, and the CD purchased, at CDBaby.com.

The long awaited new release from Kenny & Amanda Smith on Rebel Records is due to hit the street on January 30, and radio promos are being shipped this week. Titled Tell Someone, it is the first all-Gospel project from this husband and wife team from southwest Virginia, featuring their band with a guest appearance by Rhonda Vincent.

We first mentioned this project back in August when Kenny and Amanda started making it available at their shows, which unfortunately created some confusion as Rebel was not officially releasing the CD until 2007. Mark Freeman with Rebel tells us that they wanted to take some extra time preparing for this project’s street date to give it the sort of pre-release attention they felt it deserved.

Freeman said that they have brought on a publicist for Tell Someone who specializes in Christian music, and will jointly distribute the CD with Crossroads Music, a label with deep penetration in that market.

The CD is available now from Kenny and Amanda’s web site. Radio hosts who get promo service from Rebel can expect a copy this week, and retailers will have it by the end of January 2007.

J.D. Crowe & The New South are this week’s guest on Studio Special on XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction. As always, the show is a mix of live performance and casual discussion.

The program first ran last Friday, and aired twice over weekend, but will yet be rebroadcast a few more times over the next week.

All times shown are Eastern.

Bluegrass Junction can be found on XM 14, and is their 24/7 bluegrass channel.

Rural Rhythm Records announced on Friday that they have signed Dwight McCall to their label, and will release his next project, Never Say Never Again, in April of 2007. A single track from this CD, Blue Eyed Boston Boy, will be released on Prime Cuts Of Bluegrass, Vol. 86 in mid-March.

Dwight has spent the past ten years as a member of J.D. Crowe & The New South, playing mandolin and singing tenor, and appearing on both the Come On Down To My World and Lefty’s Old Guitar projects with Crowe.

Never Say Never Again includes a number of Dwight’s original songs, plus ones from Brink Brinkman, Jon Weisberger, Wayne Winkle and Craig Market. Assisting Dwight on the recording were Alan Bibey, Steve Gulley, Lou Reid, Rickey Wasson, Ron Stewart, Harold Nixon, Randy Kohrs, Brian Stephens and Missy Werner.

McCall’s father, Jim McCall, was also a Rural Rhythm artist, recording three albums for the label with Earl Taylor & Jim McCall with The Stoney Mountain Boys. Rural Rhythm President Sam Passamano commented on the multi-Generational connection.

“Dwight is a perfect fit for Rural Rhythm bridging our rich past history, Earl Taylor & Jim McCall, with our present. He delivers a fresh contemporary new tradition bluegrass sound as a new generation artist that appeals to all ages.”

There are audio samples for each track on Dwight’s web site.