Today’s (9/30) edition of The Chicago Sun-Times has an interview with Merle Haggard, primarily about his upcoming CD release, The Bluegrass Sessions, due out this coming Tuesday (10/2) on McCoury Music.

In the interview, the Sun-Times’ Dave Hoekstra talks with the Hag about his interest in bluegrass, and how he came to record this new project as an acoustic, bluegrass-flavored album. He also reveals this interesting tidbit:

The Bluegrass Sessions was recorded in two days last November in the front room of Ricky Skaggs’ studio outside Nashville. Haggard said he is thinking of a bluegrass tour — if the CD does well.

Read the full article on the Sun-Times web site.

We just got a note from Jamie Dailey to say that their official band web site is now up and operational at www.daileyvincent.com.

You can check their performance schedule, read biographical information on each of the band members and find out how to contact them for bookings or media requests.

No audio samples yet, but hopefully Rounder will make something available from their debut album soon.

The Clyde, North Carolina-based quintet Balsam Range has just announced the release of their debut CD, Marching Home.

The band comprises Marc Pruett (banjo), Caleb Smith (guitar), Darren Nicholson (mandolin), Tim Surrett (upright bass and resonator guitar) and Buddy Melton (fiddle) who all hail from Haywood County and live within 10 minutes of each other.

The quintet got together recently after various combinations had assisted in the production of solo albums. All the members of Balsam Range are from and live currently in Haywood County located in Western North Carolina. Although each were from the same town they had not played together as a group until this year. The start of the formation came with Buddy Melton’s solo recording project which featured Marc Pruett on banjo, Tim Surrett on bass, Tony Rice on guitar and Adam Steffey on mandolin. Shortly after that session, Darren Nicholson recorded his solo project which also included Marc Pruett, Tim Surrett and an array of various bluegrass greats. Soon they were getting together at each others houses to play great music for the fun of it. It basically snowballed from there.

Surrett, for whom music has been a big part of his life since school days, had recently moved back home after being gone from the area for many years traveling and playing with groups such as the Kingsmen. Nicholson had recently come off the road after playing for three years with Rounder recording artist Alecia Nugent, while Smith, who has been playing music since the age of 7, had found himself home after years of traveling with a bluegrass gospel group he helped form called Harvest. Pruett, who has long been associated with Ricky Skaggs, as well as playing with James Monroe among others, and Melton, a relative new-comer having got serious about bluegrass music while at Western Carolina University, had once played together in a bluegrass gospel group called Rock Springs Reunion and had recently started playing events together again. Some might say the timing of this union was more than just coincidental.

The CD is the result of a three way collaboration involving the group, Crossroads Records and Evergreen Publishing in Nashville. It was originally intended as a Bill Monroe tribute album, but in the end Balsam Range decided to include songs from other sources, because they felt that would be a better presentation for the band

They kept six songs associated with Monroe and added the balance of 13 from what band members brought to the sessions.

Marc Pruett spoke of the original material that they used for the CD to Carol Mallett Rifkin during an interview published in Ashville’s Citizen-Times ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ.

“Two of the songs were written by Milan Miller, of Waynesville. He and Buddy Melton are close friends. When Buddy worked in Nashville with the Jubal Foster band, he met songwriter Connie Harrington and she brought Blue Mountain to him. We all loved it. The producer wanted a really fast song, one that would blister the paint off the back wall. One that I had in my back pocket was The Train’s Ready. The Marching Home instrumental, well, my family has been interested in Civil War history for a long time. I was sitting around thinking about Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox and all those boys. One day they were in the army of Northern Virginia and the next day they were marching home. That was the inspiration.”

At the same time Buddy Melton said ‚Ķ‚Ķ.. (more…)

The Bluegrass Calendar 2008 is now available from Bluegrass Productions of Virginia, and can be purchased on-line via the website. I am sure that I am not the only bluegrass fan who missed the joys of having one of the calendars last year and news of a new calendar is tremendous.

The 2008 bluegrass calendar has as its theme the ladies of bluegrass; from pioneers, to group members and then to band leaders, as the trend developed.

Since the 1980s there has been a proliferation of women in bluegrass music, more and more actually leading bands. Previously there was a small number playing the music; just Sara and Maybelle Carter; Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard; and Rose Maddox. Now following in the footsteps of those pioneers is, firstly, Alison Krauss, then Lynn Morris, Laurie Lewis, Rhonda Vincent, Claire Lynch, Valerie Smith, Dale Ann Bradley, Lorraine Jordan, Alecia Nugent and Honi Deaton.

In addition there are the side musicians such as Janet Beazley, Missy Raines, Kristin Scott Benson, Becky Buller, Rayna Gellert and Sally Love, all of whom make a very significant contribution to their respective bands.

Gary Reid shares some recollections of the way in which his 2008 Bluegrass Calendar came to have women in bluegrass as its theme.

“Maryland-based photographer Priscilla Warnock had a lot to do with the concept. We met at the IBMA World of Bluegrass event in Nashville several years ago; I had a booth set-up in the trade show and was promoting the most recent edition of the Bluegrass Calendar. Priscilla made me aware of her photographic activities and shortly after the trade show, I contacted her and began a dialog that led to the 2008 edition of the calendar. It’s been a while since we started the project, but… if memory serves me correctly, I think it was her idea to highlight the role of women in bluegrass.”

The ladies featured in the pages of the 2008 Bluegrass Calendar are Margie Sullivan, 3 Fox Drive, Sally Love, Cherryholmes, Hazel Dickens, Rhonda Vincent, Laurie Lewis, Lynn Morris, Valerie Smith, Becky Buller, Megan Lynch, April Verch, Nancy Cardwell, Jeanette Williams, Sharon Gilchrist, Casey Henry, Murphy Henry and Janet Beazley.

Gary Reid has been publishing the Bluegrass Calendar since 1991. In addition he continues to manage Copper Creek Records, write liner notes for CDs, to do production work for other companies and to do research into the lives of his much beloved Stanley brothers. Gary has set up the new organization, Bluegrass Productions of Virginia, to deal with those matters not related to Copper Creek Records’ business.

Maryland-based photographer Priscilla Warnock has been the staff photographer for the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival for the last few years, as well as being active in photographing events such as IBMA’s World of Bluegrass festivities.