Alison Krauss and John Waite will be on GAC-TV this afternoon talking with host Kylie Harris, on the show The Edge of Country. They will be discussing their duet Missing You,, which has been covered here on The Bluegrass Blog previously.

Other topics of discussion will include new recording projects, their touring schedules, and more.

The show airs at 1 Pm EST today, March 31, 2007. If you won’t be able to watch it, don’t despair, it will be rebroadcast on April 4th.

No, Clapton is not making a bluegrass record. He is hosting his second Crossroads Guitar Festival. The last one was held three years ago in 2004, and later released on DVD. Now an encore performance is scheduled for July 28, 2007 at Toyota Park in Chicago, IL.

Last time around, in 2004, Jerry Douglas and Dan Tyminski were both on the bill individually. This year’s festival attendees will see the entire AKUS band on stage according to the venue’s website.

Vince Gill has also been confirmed as a performer for this year’s festival.

The Crossroads Guitar Festival website has not yet been updated with info on this year’s festival.

Ticket’s go on sale today, March 31, at 10 AM via TicketMaster.com and will cost $90 each.

The current issue of Teen Strings magazine has a story titled How To Train For A Fiddle Contest. It’s written by John Boulware, who at age 19 is the 2006 Tennessee fiddle champ.

Teen Strings is a quarterly print magazine from String Letter Publishing, who also publishes Strings Magazine. The magazine is produced in cooperation with the American String Teachers Association, and focused on the interests and needs of young string musicians.

His article is written to help young fiddlers prepare for entering a fiddle competition, especially if it’s their first time. As you might expect, he insists that practice is a key factor.

Do as many people have told me to do: “Play the song until you are absolutely sick of it, and then play it some more.” However, it’s important not to aim for quantity while losing sight of quality. Always stay focused when you’re practicing your piece, even if it’s the 2,873,465th time.

You can read the full article on the Teen Strings web site, where a free trial issue is available for the asking. Individual issues can be purchased as well.

This is the first in a series of article about The New Music Business.

To get us started on this topic of The New Music Business I’d thought we talk about an article that appeared in the New York Times a couple days ago titled, The Album, a Commodity in Disfavor. It’s the story of a Rap/R&B trio that recently signed a “record” contract for two songs. You read that right. They aren’t recording an album, just two songs. Why?

Only true fans are buying full albums. Most people don’t really do that anymore.

The article goes on to say that consumers who purchase music digitally (i.e. downloads) are buying way more individual tracks than they are whole albums. The margin is 19 to 1. Even if you consider that a whole album download contains 10-12 songs, there are still more tracks purchased individually than there are corporately, in the digital download market.

To be fair we must admit that physical CD sales still outweigh download sales. But for how long? We recently reported that CD sales, which have been steadily declining for the last seven years, dropped by 20% the first quarter of this year, while sales of digital tracks have increased by 16 percent during the same time period.

Paul Resnikoff, editor of Digital Music News gives his explanation for why the trend will continue. (more…)

A lot has been said recently about the business of music here on The Bluegrass Blog. We have covered the recent changes in copyright legislation surrounding internet broadcasting. We’ve also recently talked about the decline in sales of physical CDs in the overall music industry.

While this blog is mainly concerned with news about bluegrass music, we find these topics important ourselves, and feel that the state of the industry as a whole is important to our many readers who are involved with bluegrass music on a financial level. Ours is a small genre that does differ in many ways from the mainstream music industry, but ultimately we are still impacted by changes to the overall music business.

Like it or not the industry is changing. What exactly are those changes? How will they affect bluegrass music professionals? What about the fans? Will the changes be for the better, or worse? These are just some of the questions you may be asking yourself.

In an effort to answer these questions, I have undertaken the task of writing a series of articles discussing recent changes/trends in the music business, and giving some concrete ideas and examples of how bluegrass bands large and small can navigate these changes and take advantage of the opportunities they might provide.

I’m calling this series of articles The New Music Business and will begin each post title with NMB. I encourage you to share you thoughts, ideas, and questions in the comments section of each post as we go along. Let’s get started!

The David Grisman Quintet has announced that noted jazz guitarist Frank Vignola will be joining the group.

Frank has been working as a professional musician since he was in his teens, doing clubs and sessions in and around his native New York City. He recorded and toured with a number of big selling artists, but drew attention to himself when he launched a Hot Club Of France tribute band in 1988, a group which has been credited as sparking the resurgence of interest in the music of Django Reinhardt in the United States.

He started a recording career with Concord Jazz in 1993, and released several projects there and on other labels, but captured the attention of acoustic music fans as a member of Mark O’Connor’s Hot Swing group. He has a CD with Casey Dreissen and Matt Flinner called Gyspy Grass which mixes bluegrass and Django-inspired influences.

Vignola has also produced a number of instructional projects for Mel Bay, including books, CDs, DVDs and downloadable video lessons. Frank’s newest CD, Vignola Plays Gershwin, is on the Mel Bay label.

Samples of Frank Vignola’s music can be found in the iTunes Music Store, and on his web site.

The tour schedule for The David Grisman Quinet can be found on their site.

Bill Evans is surely one of bluegrass music’s most widely regarded banjo instructors, having taught hundreds of students, both privately and at camps and workshops all over the world. He has been featured in two popular instructional DVDs from AcuTab, and is the author of the upcoming Banjo For Dummies book from Wiley Publishing.

His latest AcuTab DVD, Bluegrass Banjo Master Class, is out this week, a project which Bill says formed in his mind after noticing that many of his students were encountering similar obstacles in trying to move forward on the banjo. He compiled the topics and exercises for this new DVD to help serious banjo players - at any skill level - jump start both their picking, and the enjoyment they derive from their time with the banjo.

From the AcuTab site:

Master Class is not a term you hear much in the banjo world, though it is quite common in the jazz and classical music worlds. Essentially, it is a chance to attend an instructional event with a noted master of their instrument. In this DVD, Bill Evans follows the same concept, presenting an overview of techniques that will benefit any banjo player.

Bill teaches essential bluegrass roll patterns and explores such topics as straight time vs. playing with a bounce, and how to practice with a metronome. His analysis is designed to help both new pickers get on the right track, and to refocus more experienced players on the importance of the basics – solid rhythm, big tone and bluegrass drive.

Bill also presents a series of essential bluegrass banjo licks, showing how to make slight modifications to create new licks, and a string of chordal exercises that run up and down the neck, based on familiar roll patterns.

Bluegrass Banjo Master Class runs 2 hours and 20 minutes, and includes a printed tab booklet. More details, screenshots and several sample video clips are available on the AcuTab site.

Look for it wherever quality bluegrass instructional DVDs are sold, from Bill’s web site, or directly from AcuTab.

Earlier this month we told you about a concert series being produced by the Kentucky Department of Parks and America’s Bluegrass Inc. At the time we mentioned that the Cradle of Bluegrass Music Trail concert series would feature a number of native Kentuckians. One of those who will be performing at every show is bluegrass great Larry Cordle.

I had the opportunity to speak with Larry yesterday and asked for his thoughts about the concert series. Here is what he shared with me.

Speaking about the relationship between bluegrass music and Kentucky.

Bluegrass music is the sound of Kentucky to me…….from the high lonesome mountains to the rolling horse farms & the endless river towns I feel that it belongs to Kentucky…..and I am so proud to be from Kentucky.

On Monroe, bluegrass, and Kentucky…

He [Bill Monroe] is undoubtedly the ‘reason’ for Bluegrass music in it’s strictest sense & was a wonderful mentor to me. His music reflected all the things I mentioned above & incorporated much of the heavy Scotch Irish drony sounds with Blues & country……I think Kentuckians are always cognizant of Mr. Monroe’s stamp on music history……….He was proud to be a Kentuckian & everyone I know who plays this music, thinks he is the reason that Bluegrass music exists.

About his own involvement with the Cradle of Bluegrass Music Trail.

I am absolutely speechless that I was asked to be part of this series……..what great musicians that comprise this group……….that I could somehow be fortunate enough to be asked to be a part of this is the utmost honor for me………..I hope I can somehow live up to being asked to participate in these shows with so many ‘great’ Kentucky musicians that I admire so much.

Thanks so much to Larry for taking the time to share with us. If you have the chance I would encourage you to make an effort to attend one of these shows and hear some great bluegrass music while enjoying the wonderful Kentucky state parks at the same time.

Cindy Baucom, host of Knee-Deep In Bluegrass, has just announced the addition of two new affiliate stations which are now carrying the show. WAYA 93.9 FM in Spring City, TN and WXLR 104.9 FM in Harold, KY have both added Knee-Deep In Bluegrass to their programing schedule.

Cindy’s show is a two-hour weekly syndicated show featuring both current and classic bluegrass, bluegrass news, and an in-depth artist interview each week. The wife of banjo great Terry Baucom, and an accomplished bass player in her own right, Cindy is knowledgeable and passionate about bluegrass music.

Knee-Deep In Bluegrass is produced by Premiere Radio Networks and distributed to more than 65 markets nationwide by the John Boy and Billy Radio Network. Stations interested in getting more information or a show demo may call the network at 800-891-0350.

Fans should be sure to visit the Knee-Deep In Bluegrass website to find an affiliate station in their local area.

The Dixie Bee-Liners have a nice feature up on Gibson’s web site. It gives an overview of the band - and their story of meeting and starting a bluegrass band in New York, and then moving to Virginia - along with a photo of Brandi Hart and Buddy Woodward touring the Gibson custom shop.

It also mentions their upcoming CD, now nearly completed, and the addition to the band of Rachel Renee Johnson on fiddle, Sam Morrow on banjo, Claiborne Woodall on lead guitar and Andy Blevins on upright bass.

Gibson is also sponsoring a blog for The Dixie Bee-Liners, which you can find on the Gibson site as well.

We just recently noticed that the Email link in the post footer had stopped working after our recent upgrade. It’s fixed now. Not just fixed, improved!

Look in the footer navigation bar for any post and you’ll see a link enabling you to email the post to a friend, or yourself for future reference.

I lowered the interval length between emails from 5 minutes to 2 minutes. That measure is in place to keep spammers from using it. We’ll see how it works at that setting.

You can send the post to more than one recipient at once, just enter multiple names and email addresses, separating each with a comma. I tested it and it works very nicely.

The amount of text from the post that gets included in the email has been increased as well. The recipient will still have to click over to read the whole post and see any included photos though.

Have fun bloggrassers!

The pair of Flatt & Scruggs DVDs we posted about in January are officially out this week, and the first reviews are coming in.

Both The Raleigh News & Observer and Americana Roots have weighed in on the value of these two DVDs of previously unreleased footage, taken from Flatt & Scruggs television appearances in 1961 and 1962.

Each DVD includes better than two dozen songs, with much of the classic Flatt & Scruggs repertoire represented. Jimmie Brown The Newsboy, Before I Met You, Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down, Earl’s Breakdown, Polka On A Banjo, Down The Road and many more are here, along with several live Martha White commercials and the comedy stylings of Jake Tullock and Josh Graves.

Hylo Brown appears as a guest on Vol. 1, Maybelle Carter on Vol. 2, and the Foggy Mountain Boys also include Curly Seckler and Paul Warren.

Full track listings can be found from either Janet Davis Music, County Sales or The Music Shed - all of whom also have the DVDs available for immediate shipping.

For most current fans and students of bluegrass music who never had a chance to see this group perform live in person, these DVDs - and others said to be set for release later this year - offer a glimpse of Flatt & Scruggs at the peak of their popularity, and to may historians of the genre, the high point of their artistic endeavors.

Blue Plate Special has a special 90 minute edition of the program on tap for Friday (3/30) on WDVX.

It’s a triple bill featuring live (in studio) performances from The Jerry Douglas Band, Kenny & Amanda Smith and Missy Raines and the New Hip. Each will get a 30 minute spot, and it’s not clear in which order they will appear.

WDVX broadcasts at 89.9 FM from Knoxville, TN and the station’s feed is streamed live online, so you can hear the show from anywhere. Listen in on Friday, eastern US time, from noon to 1:30 p.m.

King Wilkie, the Charlottesville, VA-based string based whose multiple personality shifts defy description, have announced June 26 as the release date for their upcoming CD, Low Country Suite, their first for Rounder imprint, Zoe Records.

The band got its start in traditional bluegrass, combining a love for the old sound with youth and a fashionista flair. They released a single CD for Rebel Records in 2004, Broke, which featured a stark, “neo-primitive” bluegrass sound. With six members still in the twenties, King Wilkie was a hit at bluegrass festivals and in clubs, and were selected as emerging artist of the year by the IBMA that same year.

Tierra Del Fuego was their next project, a limited-release CD with 8 new tracks. Here, they began to show a move away from bluegrass to a sound more reminiscent of the early country rock days of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito in the 1970s.

On Low Country Suite, King Wilkie has chosen the latter path, with a more sophisticated sound, assisted by noted producer Jim Scott. The move away from traditional string music now seems complete, though the influences that informed their journey are still apparent.

Four tracks from the new CD are previewed on their MySpace page if you would like to sample the band’s latest persona.

The April issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray contains an article focused, of course, on the food of Virginia’s Crooked Road.

In a regular feature about food and travel, called Go Away, Rachael visits several locations along The Crooked Road. I’ve not read the article, but I’ve been told that the music is given some time in the magazine, with references to specific bands that Rachael listens to while traveling along The Crooked Road.

If anyone has a copy, please comment and give us some details.

Making Music Magazine is a glossy, bi-monthly print publication dedicated to the amateur musician and the pursuit of their musical goals. Now in their third year, the magazine means to provide stories of inspiration as well as tips to assist folks whose primary career is outside of music - and help them have fun learning to play.

They describe a typical issue thusly:

Read stories about music makers from all walks of life, learn about the latest medical research into the benefits of making music, discover tips to make you learn better and get the most out of your hobby, and much more.

The March/April 2007 issue has a feature about taking on a musical instrument in retirement, which has its focus Pete Wernick’s jam camps, which provide new pickers the skills and the opportunity to play with other musicians in a controlled environment. They interview a number of Pete’s jam campers about their experiences, both at the camp, and in learning to play later in life.

The article also include some comments from Pete, and a nice overview of why bluegrass music appeals to a growing number of people. It also features a number of photos taken at a jam session held at the home of actor/comedian and banjo picker, Steve Martin. Pete was in attendance, as was Martin’s fellow actor/comedian Martin Mull, who is also an accomplished musician.

Read the article online at the Making Music web site, where you may also request a one year trial subscription, free for the asking.

We’ve posted many times about the new secular CD from Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, More Behind The Picture Than The Wall. It’s officially released today (3/27), and can be purchased wherever bluegrass music is sold, online or in the real world.

If you ordered directly from Doyle’s web site, you should be receiving your copy in the next day or so.

We found an early review in Sunday’s edition of The Tuscaloosa News, which made note of the theme of the CD.

Lawson is known in particular for his religious-themed recordings but his new release on Rounder, “More Behind the Picture than the Wall,” due in stores on March 27, delves deeply into the secular side of bluegrass.

No, the songs aren’t about hell raising, hard drinking or cheating. Lawson, true to the tradition, is a true-blue straightedge kind of guy when it comes to musical themes.

Read the full review online.

Audio samples can be found on the Rounder Records site, and in the iTunes Music Store.

We just received a note from Dennis Jones of WNCW, letting us know about their latest efforts in fundraising for the station. They are holding their spring pledge drive this week. With the recently increased royalties for internet broadcasters, supporting the stations you listen to has become more important than ever.

…it’s very important to support those stations that play Bluegrass music at this time. Seeing that they stay healthy and financially stable will help Bluegrass remain alive and growing. It’s critical to let Program Directors, Development Directors and General Managers know that we will support the music we love and will do so even more if given the programming we seek.

For this year’s fundraiser, WNCW will be offering as a thank you gift, to those who pledge support, a copy of the new CD Goin’ Across The Mountain Live Volume 2. The disc features 16 tracks from regional and nationally touring bluegrass artists, including Wildfire, Bryan and Jerry Sutton, The Gibson Brothers, Jesse McReynolds and Charles Whitstein, Nothin’ Fancy, The Kruger Brothers, Mike Compton & David Long, BlueRidge, Whitewater Bluegrass Company, Andy Thorn and Friends, The High Windy Band, Town Mountain, Jussi Syren & The Groundbreakers, Mark Johnson & Emory Lester, New Road, and Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike featuring Becky Buller.

Dennis tells us the disc was a lot of fun in the making. Recorded at the station’s Studio B, the CD is a mixture of traditional, contemporary, and bluegrass gospel, with an old timey tune on the clawhammer banjo thrown in as well.

Dennis wished to express appreciation to all the artists who donated their songs and time to the project in support of the station. He also has a word for the fans out there.

And….if you are in the Spindale area [in North Carolina], stop in on Saturday the 31st and answer some phones, say howdy….have some pie and coffee…or at your own local Public Station, do the same thing. The main goal is to make Bluegrass a strong programming option to those who make the decisions about what goes on air. And remember, as a wise man once said…”Bluegrass Rules!”

CMT.com has a piece up that features an interview with banjo picker Tony Trischka. It is focused on his recent release, Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular, which includes Tony and a host of celebrated banjoists in twin banjo arrangements. Earl Scruggs, Tom Adams, Béla Fleck, Scott Vestal, Noam Pikelny and many more share the banjo duties with Trischka on this project.

The CMT piece focuses on Tony’s collaboration with actor/comedian/banjo player Steve Martin, who also appears on the new CD, and getting the opportunity to perform with Martin on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Tony also shares his feelings about working with Earl Scruggs.

“When we were recording the album, I was sitting knee to knee with him while we were rehearsing the tunes,” he says. “The thing that really hit me is how powerful his playing still is. And I saw him in New York four or five months ago. Just the very first hit of ‘Salty Dog,’ there was just that sound. The tone is the thing with Earl. It’s just so deep and so right and so perfect and so there, you can’t even really explain what it is about it, but it takes your head off.”

Read the full interview at CMT.com.

Speaking of Trischka, Martin and television… The two will be appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman on April 26, so mark your calendars and set your TiVo.

It’s always encouraging to see bluegrass being supported by those outside the genre, but it comes as no surprise that the state of Virginia, with it’s rich bluegrass heritage, would be involved in promoting bluegrass music.

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation is sponsoring a tour called Blowin’ the Dust Off. The series features Steve Bassett along with bluegrass band, Michelle Nixon & Drive. The tour includes stops at sixteen Virginia State Parks beginning at Natural Tunnel State Park in Duffield, VA on May 5, 2007. Each concert will be accompanied by a “Picker’s Camp” and a display/demonstration of pre-1900’s music instruments. Tickets are $4 for adults, with children 12 and under getting in free.
Bassett is a singer who’s style has been described as a synthesis of America’s roots music. But he’s not bluegrass, so I won’t dwell on his contribution to the series.

Michelle Nixon & Drive however, are bluegrass. Nixon is a Virginia girl with a decidedly Virginia sounding bluegrass band. She has won awards from SPBGMA in recent years for her traditional style vocals. She is also a part of the IBMA award winning Daughters of Bluegrass group. And her band…what can I say?

The band consists of Patrick Robertson on guitar and vocals, Jamie Harper on mandolin, fiddle and vocals, Jeremy Boling on banjo, and Travis Greer on bass and vocals. I must admit some partiality where this band is concerned. Some of the guys are hometown pickers from this part of Southwest Virginia and so I have a natural pride in their accomplishment. And while Jeremy Boling is a recent transplant to this part of Virginia, he is truely a hometown picker for me. We both grew up in the Kansas City, MO area and I’ve known and picked with him since we were both youngsters. With that disclaimer out of the way, I will say this a great sounding bluegrass band and you should take the time to check them out if you haven’t already.

Visit the Blowin’ the Dust Off tour website for more information and a full listing of Park locations.