As you’ve probably heard, Sirius and XM have announced plans to merge their two companies into one larger satellite radio provider. It’s still unclear at this point if regulators will allow it though.

CNN Money reports that both companies will need to seek shareholder approval, and with that done the new company would need FCC approval as well. Congress is also looking into the matter in the form of a review by the House Judiciary Committee. Committee Chairman John Conyers issued a statement recently about the planned review by an antitrust task force.

We are holding this hearing to allow members to probe whether this merger will enhance or diminish competition in the digital music distribution industry,

Just a few years ago, regulators rejected a similar proposed merger between satellite TV providers, DirecTV and DISH Network. It remains to be seen whether they will allow the merger of the only two providers of satellite radio.

Ultimately, it seems there will be only one satellite radio provider, either due to a merger or simply one or the other going out of business.

If the merger is allowed by regulators, the two companies plan to offer listeners an “a la carte” option as to which channels they subscribe to. This could be a nice feature for those wanting a limited number of stations and desiring not to have offensive channels such as the one carrying Howard Stern.

How this might affect the bluegrass listeners is yet to be determined. Based on this comment found on the XM website, it seems certain that there will be a combining of the bluegrass channels.

a merger would ultimately allow the new company to eliminate duplicative music programming and free up bandwidth

I know this sounds bad, but, if they were to retain the best of each (Sirius and XM) channel, the emerging bluegrass programing could be quite good. On the other hand, it will mean the cancellation of some shows, which is sure to upset fans of those shows. Sirius currently makes use of a large number of “part-time” bluegrass DJs recruited from among the ranks of professional bluegrass musicians. XM, on the other hand, leaves the majority of hosting duties in the hands of professional DJ, Kyle Cantrell. What balance would be struck between the two formats is unknown at this point.

One wonders how Sirius and XM subscribers feel about the impending shift in programing. Will the merger be a good thing for bluegrass fans? You tell me…

Our friend David Russell passed along this link, which is bound to warm the hearts of banjo haters everywhere - or anyone with a sense of humor that appreciates banjo deprecating whimsy.

It’s found on the site of White Tree Productions, online home of Phoenix, AZ musician Joe Bethancourt, and includes such wondrous bits of banjo lore as a Banjo Permit Application, Famous Banjo Salve, Da Vinci and the Banjo and a number of other oddball bits.

Find the humorous links in the right hand column on the White Tree Miscellany page.

Here’s another post from our all-the-more regular contributor, Richard Thompson. He writes from England, where he is also a longstanding contributor to British Bluegrass News, a quarterly print publication where he also briefly served as editor.

The four-piece progressive bluegrass/jam band from Colorado, Yonder Mountain String Band, has announced their first ever live pay-per-view Webcast from the Pageant Theatre, St Louis, to take place on Saturday, February 24 at 8.00pm.

The band consists of Dave Johnson, banjo and vocals; Jeff Austin, mandolin and vocals; Ben Kaufmann, bass and vocals; and Adam Aijala, guitar and vocals, and has been building a fine reputation in their field ever since their formation in December 1988. Their discography is remarkable for the number of ‘live’ recordings that are among the studio sets that they have released. The live albums, all in the “Mountain Tracks” series, now numbers four volumes, the latest of which was released in February last year. All, along with most of the band’s studio albums, can be found on their own Frog Pad Records label. Producers of the Yonder Mountain String Band albums include Sally Van Meter and Tim O’Brien.

Typical of jam bands the Yonder Mountain String Band allow, even encourage, audience members to record and share recordings of their live performances.

To take advantage of this exciting new visual and audio opportunity visit the band’s website where you can register and pre-order the show using the Beta iClips Network facility. Unfortunately, the webcast is not compatible with Macs. It can only run on a computer where Windows is the sole, native OS. Not even an Intel Mac runinng Windows (via Boot Camp or Parallels Desktop) will be able to view this webcast.

The Yonder Mountain String Band website has details of their tour dates for the coming months also.

Paul Craft has long been known as one of the premier songwriters in bluegrass music, and he has enjoyed tremendous success in pop and country music as well. His song, Midnight Flyer, was a hit for The Osborne Brothers in 1974, but became a mega-hit for The Eagles a few years later. His song, Teardrops Will Kiss The Morning Dew, was included in Alison Krauss’ platinum compilation, Now That I’ve Found You.

Paul has written a number of country hits like Dropkick Me, Jesus, It’s Me Again Margaret, Keep Me From Blowing Away, Brother Jukebox and Come As You Were.

Now, from Strictly Country Records comes a new CD from Paul Craft, Too Bad You’re No Good, featuring a number of his new and older compositions, performed by some of Nashville’s hottest pickers. Ronnie McCoury, Robbie McCoury, Jason Carter, Mike Bub, Bobby Bare, Thom Bresh, Shawn Camp, Jack Clement and Kenny Malone all lend their talents on this new release.

Strictly Country is based in The Netherlands, and there will surely be distribution of Paul’s new CD in the US. Two previous CDs, Raised By The Railroad Line and Brother Jukebox are both available through CDBaby, so perhaps this one will appear there as well.

Radio hosts and potential distributors can reach Strictly Country by email, or find contact information on their web site.

Pinecastle has wonderful news for fans of The Osborne Brothers. They are set to release a 3 disk set recorded on July 30, 1989 in Streekermoor, Germany entitled, appropriately enough, The Osborne Brothers: Live In Germany. Tom Riggs at Pinecastle says that this is just the first of several unreleased Osborne Brothers recordings which they will put out over the next few years.

This concert was part of a European tour with Bill Monroe, and the accompanying liner notes from Sonny and Bobby describe bus travel with the Father of Bluegrass.

“While traveling, everyone wore just plain old riding clothes and such, but not Mr. Monroe. His traveling uniform was a suit and tie, along with his hat, which I thought was strange, but that was Monroe. Our only transportation was two small and I mean small, vans in which to carry two complete bands.”

The Osborne’s band at the time included Terry Eldridge on guitar/vocals and Terry Smith on bass - both currently members of The Grascals - and Steve Thomas on fiddle, along with Bobby and Sonny Osborne.

This live set includes two audio CDs, and a DVD video of the show. The audio has been painstakingly remastered, produced and overseen by Sonny Osborne with John Eberle of Americana Mastering. The DVD is included, despite the fact that it was not professionally recorded, because it is one of the few video recordings on the band from that era.

Many Osborne Brothers favorites are on tap: Kentucky, Listening To The Rain, Georgia Mules and Country Boys, Midnight Flyer, Tennessee Hound Dog and - of course - Rocky Top.

Pinecastle has The Osborne Brothers: Live In Germany scheduled for release on April 3, 2007.

The Gospel Music Association announced yesterday their nominees for this year’s Dove Awards. The awards do include two bluegrass categories for Song of the Year and Album of Year. Here are this year’s bluegrass nominees.

BLUEGRASS RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR
(Song, Album, Artist, Writer, Label)

• “Did You Forget God Today”; Long List of Heartaches; Grascals; Aubrey Holt; Rounder Records
• “Bedside Prayer”; Traveling Through; The Churchmen; Steve Martin; Pinecastle Records
• “He Lives In Me”; He Lives In Me; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Frances P. Simpson; Horizon Records
• “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again”; Bluegrass Gospel Time; Dave Moody; Arr by Dave Moody, Mallie B. Music; Lamon Records
• “My Cross”; Flyin’ High; Lewis Family; Wayne Haun; Vine Records
• “We Know Where He Is”; The Promised Land; Del McCoury Band; Shawn Camp; McCoury Music

BLUEGRASS ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(Album, Artist, Producer(s), Label)

• Acoustic Hymns Volume 1; Cumberland Quartet; Wayne Haun, Depp Britt, Kevin Ward; Vine Records
• Ancient Of Days; Harvest Wind; Dave Moody; Lamon Records
• Flyin’ High; Lewis Family; Wayne Haun; Kevin Ward; Mountain Home
• He Lives In Me; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Doyle Lawson; Horizon Records
• The Promised Land; Del McCoury Band; Del McCoury, Ronnie McCoury; McCoury Music

The 38th Annual Dove Awards will be presented on Wednesday, April 25, 2007. The show will be held at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN at 8PM CST. It won’t be broadcast in national syndication until the month of May.

You can find the complete listing of nominees, more info, and show tickets at www.doveawards.com

Pete Wernick, a.k.a. Dr. Banjo, has long been regarded as one of the pre-eminent banjo instructors in bluegrass music. His book, Bluegrass Banjo, published in 1974, has sold over 200,00 copies and taught thousands to become banjo pickers over the last 30 years. Together with Tony Trischka, he compiled the reams of information offered in the massive volume, Masters of the 5 String Banjo, with interviews, photos and information on 68 popular banjo players.

Pete has also released a number of instructional videos, focusing primarily on helping new players get started and learn to jam with one another.

His newest, Bluegrass Banjo Backup, has just been released from Homespun Video. It is designed for new pickers, and includes footage from his previous Bluegrass Slow Jam and Bluegrass Jamming DVDs. After showing video from an actual jam session, Pete describes the techniques, lick and patterns being employed, which are also found in the included tab booklet.

The new Wernick DVD can be ordered directly from Pete’s web site, or from Homespun, which also features a couple of bits of sample video.

Adrian Fenty, the Mayor of The District of Columbia, has issued an official proclamation designating February 23, 2007 as John Starling and Carolina Star Day in the District.

The text of the proclamation reads:

WHEREAS, the greater Washington, D.C.-area has become one of the most active, creative and productive Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Communities in the world; and

WHEREAS, John Starling, Mike Auldridge and Tom Gray along with John Duffey, whose notice of passing was recently entered into the Congressional Record, have been instrumental to the D.C.-area Art And Cultural Landscape, influencing an entire generation of American Roots and Bluegrass musicians including Emmylou Harris and the Nash Ramblers, Ricky Skaggs and Linda Ronstadt; and

WHEREAS, John Starling served his country as a US Army surgeon in Vietnam and at the Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital; and

WHEREAS, the artists have rekindled their 30-plus year relationship and now return to Alexandria’s Birchmere Music Hall on the 23rd of February, 2007, to celebrate their impact on American Music and the Washington, D.C.-Area Bluegrass scene:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, THE MAYOR OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, do hereby proclaim February 23, 2007, as “JOHN STARLING AND CAROLINA STAR DAY” in Washington, DC, and call upon all the residents of this great city to join me in observing this day as we demonstrate our appreciation of these artists’ contribution to a unique American Art Form, and the Art and Culture of the Washington, DC area.

Adrian M. Fenty
Mayor, District of Columbia

The debut CD from Carolina Star, Slidin’ Home, was released today (2/20/07) on Rebel Records.

Last week we told you about a couple of ebay auctions by WDVX in Knoxville that were part of it’s 2007 fundraising efforts.

The first auction was for an autographed Martin DXM guitar. The second auction was an autographed Tony Rice model Santa Cruz guitar. Friday evening the third, and final, instrument went up for auction on ebay.

This time it’s a mandolin. An “F Style” Liddy Mandolin featuring a fern peghead inlay and tobacco sunburst finish. The instrument is sporting autographs by Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, Ronnie McCoury, Doyle Lawson, David Grisman, Marty Stuart and more.

Once again this instrument and the accompanying case have been provided by Smoky Mountain Guitars in Pigeon Forge, TN.

The bidding began Friday evening February 16th, and will continue through the auction’s closing date of Sunday February 25th, at 6PM EST.

More photos of the instrument are available on the ebay auction page.

Just Right Productions and JamBase are offering a chance to win a pair of VIP tickets to the Spirit of Bluegrass Music Fest - March 15-17, 2007 at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL.

If you are not already a JamBase member, you’ll need to create a free membership in order to enter the contest. The two tickets have a value of $100, and the festival includes performances by Lonesome River Band, Blue Moon Rising, Cadillac Sky, New Found Road and many more.

We posted in August of ‘06 about the announcement that Rigel Mandolin was going out of business, and again in September ‘06 when former Rigel co-owner Peter Mix announced that he and Will Kimble would be collaborating on a new carbon fiber mandolin. When the first prototype photos emerged of their mandolin in December, we posted an update.

Peter and Will’s joint venture is know as New Millenium Acoustic Design, or NewMAD. They currently offer two Mix Mandolin models, a round hole A4 and an F-hole A5, both featuring a carbon fiber body and neck, with an ebony fingerboard and bridge. They feel that this composite material is perfect for mandolin construction as it is strong, durable and very lightweight, and find its resonant and tonal qualities comparable to carved, solid wood instruments.

We heard from Peter this week, and he shared some photos and some news about their efforts.

“Two of the prototypes have been doing quite a bit of traveling as ambassadors (prototype #1 is just too wonderful to let go of, so it resides with me for the present). Prototype #2, the A4, is now in Ireland with Roger Landes and #3, the second A5, is somewhere between Nebraska and Colorado. The response has been nothing short of extraordinary. The need for these instruments is universal, I believe, and it’s hugely gratifying to be so well-received. We’ve put a tremendous amount of effort as well as capital into this endeavor and truly want to do it right. I’d like to think that we’re off to good start.”

Peter alluded to some upcoming announcements about new body designs, but said that they wanted to complete development and prototyping before making them public.

Click any of the photos to see a larger image. Additional images, as well as audio/video samples of their A4 and A5 Mix Mandolins can be found on the NewMAD site.

Noted tunesmith Jerry Salley will the guest in this evening’s Songwriter Chat at The Bluegrass Guide. Jerry will be online to discuss his career and the craft at 8:00 p.m. (EST) on Tuesday, February 20.

He has been writing in Nashville since 1982, with more than 300 songs recorded, many by country hit makers like Reba McEntire and John Anderson, with 10 songs that have reached the Top 20 on the gospel music charts.

Jerry has released a bluegrass project this year, New Songs, Old Friends, with contributions from such stellar artists as Vince Gill, Doyle Lawson, Bryan Sutton, Adam Steffey, Jamie Johnson, Rob Ickes, Del McCoury, Rhonda Vincent, Carl Jackson, Stuart Duncan, Larry Cordle, Alecia Nugent, Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White.

To participate in tonight’s Songwriter Chat, simply visit the Bluegrass Guide Chat Room at 8:00 p.m. As always, the chat will be hosted and moderated by Rick Lang.

When I first started playing banjo in the 1970s, Harry Lane was a well-regarded banjo maker, whose highly ornate and limited production instruments were prized by collectors. He discontinued his banjo building after only 40 were made, and focused his energy on his other artist craft, making fine custom furniture.

As things have transpired, Harry Lane has returned to building banjos, and mandolins and fiddles as well. Photos and descriptions of the instruments can be found on his web site, along with stunning photos of his furniture and custom pool cues.

The banjos are all top tension models, and can be ordered with either a flat head or arch top tone ring.

We found a number of feature pieces on bluegrass/acoustic artists in various print publications this past few days.

Friday’s Knoxville News Sentinel ran an interview with Abby Washburn of Uncle Earl. She talked about their upcoming CD, Waterloo, Tennessee, and having it produced by John Paul Jones, former bass player with Led Zeppelin. The discussion also turned to the notion of performing with an all-female string band.

“Everybody has a different perception of what it means to be an all-female band,” says Washburn. “Sometimes it works in our favor. And sometimes bluegrass festivals will hire us, it seems like, as a way to fill a quota.”

However, Washburn says that women, especially, seem to appreciate the group.

“I think we make it more accessible to them — especially since we haven’t all been playing this music since we were 4 years old,” she says.

Read the whole piece on the News Sentinel site.

Sunday’s edition of The Tennessean, Nashville’s hometown paper, had a piece on The Grascals’ recent appearance with Dierks Bentley on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Staff writer Peter Cooper accompanied the band to Los Angeles for the show, and recounts their day at the CBS studio. He also spoke with Ferguson about his appreciation for American country music, and his desire to include it in The Late Late Show programming.

“I got here at this show two years ago and said, ‘We need to send a message to the country community that this is a country-friendly show,’” he said. “When I was a kid in Scotland, we heard a lot of country music. It was Johnny Cash — forever — and then there was Hank Williams. The first Hank Williams. Country music is popular in Glasgow, Scotland. These are working-class, drinking people.”

You can read the lengthy piece online at The Tennessean site.

This morning’s edition of the Fredericksburg, VA Free Lance-Star has a feature on tomorrow’s release of Slidin’ Home by John Starling & Carolina Star. Since Fredericksburg can lay claim to Starling as a former resident, the article focuses on the fact that Starling left bluegrass to dedicate himself to medical practice, but is now back after his retirement.

Thirty years ago, the Seldom Scene bluegrass band founding member quit the cult-favorite-group-to-be to focus on ears, noses and throats in a Fredericksburg medical practice.

Now he’s retired from medicine–concentrating exclusively on ears.

Read this one online as well.

This post is another from our all-the-more regular contributor, Richard Thompson. He writes from England, where he is also a longstanding contributor to British Bluegrass News, a quarterly print publication where he also briefly served as editor.

The latest edition of guitarist Steve Kaufman’s Flatpicking Hotline publication announces details of Kaufman’s schedule for March and April as well providing a registration form for his Kamp 2007.

Kaufman is a National Flatpicking Champion in 1978 at 21 years of age and winner twice more since. After conducting private teaching lessons for about 20 years he produced the first of a wide range of instructional material in 1989.

Steve began touring the world conducting seminars, workshops, clinics and concerts in 1990 and after 5 years he began Steve Kaufman’s Flatpicking Camp. They have grown into the largest Camps of their kind in the world with students traveling from around the world to Maryville, Tennessee. In 2002 and 2004, Steve Kaufman received the Gold Award from a reader’s poll in Acoustic Guitar Magazine for running the “Best Workshops, Seminars and Camps.”

Kaufman has several studio recordings to his credit, the latest of which is the CD Mystique which comprises 17 tracks performed with the assistance of special guests Bobby Hicks, Emory Lester, Gary Davis and Casey Henry among others. He has just released the seventh in the CD series Best Of Kamp Concerts.

Kamp 2007 comprises two separate weeks of tuition on all bluegrass instruments - see the official Kamp web site for the schedules for each week. The first week’s lessons commence on June 10 and are followed immediately by the second week of sessions from June 17 through to June 24.

Details of Steve Kaufman’s commitments for 2007 can be found on his web site.

This morning I’m on my way to Nashville for the concert DVD shoot I told you about a while back. This show features Josh Williams, Chris Eldridge, and Andy Falco. A few special guests are going to help the guys out as well, including Cody Kilby, and Mike Bub.

If you are in Nashville today be sure to stop by the Station Inn at 7pm or 9pm to catch one of the sets. I you can’t make to the show, you’ll be able to buy the DVD from Flatpicking Guitar Magazine here in a month or two.

We received a note recently from Niall Toner, who hosts Roots Freeway on RTE Radio One in Dublin, Ireland. His show runs on Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. (GMT/WET) and features a mix of bluegrass, old time, traditional country and blues. It is also available online via live streaming from the Radio One web site.

Niall wanted to let any artists or independent labels know that he is eager to receive promo copies of your new releases for airplay on Radio One. They can be sent to the station address:

Niall also performs with his own group, the Niall Toner Band. They have two CDs of original music, with songs having been cut by Nashville Bluegrass Band, Special Consensus and Albert Lee.

UPDATE 2/19/07: The Bluegrass Ireland Blog is reporting that Niall is at work on his third CD with The Niall Toner Band, again featuring all original material. It is expected to be released in the summer of ‘07.

The dates for Nickel Creek’s spring 2007 tour are posted on the band’s web site. They will be out from mid-April until mid-May, and again breifly in the fall, and will then suspend touring and recording together for the indefinite future.

Given the excitement and interest that always accompanies “farewell tours,” anyone hoping to catch Nickel Creek live before they disband might be well advised to seek out tickets as soon as possible.

There has been a good bit of anticipation building up in the bluegrass world, awaiting the release next week of Slidin’ Home, the debut release from John Starling & Carolina Star. Starling is joined in this new endeavor by his original Seldom Scene bandmates Mike Auldridge and Tom Gray, a group whose popularity has endured even as it has been through an almost complete overhaul in membership over more than 30 years performing under that name.

Rebel Records announced yesterday that the entire project can be previewed at CMT.com, where advance orders for Slidin’ Home can also be placed for shipment on the February 20 release date. At that point, the CD will be available wherever bluegrass and acoustic music are sold.

This post is a contribution from Richard Thompson, a semi-regular contributor here at The Bluegrass Blog. He is also a longstanding contributor to British Bluegrass News, a quarterly print publication where he also briefly served as editor.

The February edition of the widely read British publication Country Music People (CMP) magazine features Jim Lauderdale on the front cover.

Lauderdale, whose new album, Bluegrass, was released last September on the Yep Roc label, discussed his song writing and recording career with Janet Apsley as they got together on what was described as a drizzly, dank November evening in Essex. He says he would do anything for bluegrass and speaks of his occasional song writing collaborations with Ralph Stanley. The article covers a complete five pages.

The second and concluding part of an interview with living legend Mac Wiseman, conducted by Nashville-based reporter Walt Trott, is also included. Titled Mac Wiseman: Music and Memories, the article resumes Wiseman’s story in the Spring of 1947, following his departure from Molly O’Day’s band. This later period in his musical life covers the bluegrass era - with Bill Monroe, and Flatt and Scruggs, among others - the Dot Record period and the years thereafter. The comprehensive article, covering ten pages, includes a photograph of the first twin fiddlers in bluegrass; Tommy Jackson and Dale Potter.

Among the CDs reviewed in the magazine are the J D Crowe & The New South Lefty’s Old Guitar (3 out of 5 stars), David Davis And The Warrior River Boys’ Troubled Times (3 stars) and Vernon Oxford Sings Gospel, Country & Bluegrass (3 stars).

Country Music People is available at all good British news vendors and by subscription. Their web site gives readers an idea of its usual content, though the site features an older edition of CMP.