The holliday season is upon us once again and it’s time for a new bluegrass Christmas CD. Christmas Grass Vol. 3 is great addition to the iTunes collection. I personally enjoy Christmas music very much, especially when it’s this well done.

The subtitle for the CD is Featuring 3 Fox Drive and Friends. That should give you a clue as to the quality of singing on this recording. Astral is the only word I can come up with that comes close. Kim, Barb, and Joel Fox provide the harmonies all through the CD, and they are certainly out of this world. The Fox family members (3 Fox Drive) also handle lead vocal duties on good number of tunes, including O Holy Night, White Christmas, and others. Their version of O Holy Night is easily one of the best I’ve ever heard.

The instrumental performances on this recording are fantastic. Tasteful, mature playing is exhibited throughout by such illuminaries as Darrin Vincent, Byron House, Bryan Sutton, Cody Kilby, Adam Steffey, Aubrey Haynie, Joe CaverLee, Rob Ickes, Joel Fox and Eric Darken.

In addition to the instrumental guests, the singing of the Fox Family is augmented by a few noteworthy guest vocalists as well. (more…)

We’ve posted recently about banjo man Bill Emerson’s new CD, Bill Emerson and the Sweet Dixie Band, and the former member of The Country Gentlemen, The Sunny Mountain Boys and the US Navy Band’s Country Current coming back to music after several years in retirement.

Country Standard Time has a wide ranging interview with Bill published on their web site, where he discusses Charlie Waller, Jimmy Martin, his return to touring and recording and his new band and CD.

A few choice tidbits…

Recalling that Fourth of July 50 years ago when he and Charlie Waller brought the Country Gentlemen into being, he admits they were just doing what they needed to do at the time.

“We never thought we’d amount to that much, we just wanted to play music and make a little money, have some fun. We never thought we would ever get a recording contract and become the group that the Country Gentlemen became. I was just glad to play with somebody who could play guitar as well as Charlie Waller and somebody who was as great a singer as he was. I certainly benefited from that, and I hope he benefited from me being around, especially in the later years, and Charlie Waller is certainly one of the greatest lead singers of all time as far as bluegrass music goes.”

Emerson also notes that his former US Navy band mate Wayne Taylor will soon be a part of The Sweet Dixie Band.

“(Wayne’s) gonna be full time with me starting at the end of April when he retires…I’m not gonna start hittin’ it heavy until 2008. I’ve got some other people lined up, plus the thing we did in Nashville, the (IBMA) Rebel showcase was almost like a variety show. We had a lot of the people that were on this project with me, and we’re gonna try to maintain that concept.”

Read the the full piece by John Lupton online.

Acoustic guitar Maharishi Larry Keel, along with his band Natural Bridge, will be making an appearance on WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour on Monday, November 12, 2007.

If you’ve ever seen Keel and band in concert you know what kind of energy you’re in store for. If you haven’t seem them live, you should make a point of catching this show. It’s coming to a radio and computer near you.

The show is broadcast from The Kentucky Theatre in Lexington, KY. The show starts at 6:45 PM EST, and is broadcast to 900,000 listeners on over 400 radio stations, including a number of international stations, and now XM Radio Channel 15.

In addition to the radio broadcast, the show can also be heard, and seen, online. The WoodSongs Webcast is a multi-camera weekly broadcast made available online as a streaming cybercast, and also as a downloadable podcast. Join the fun at 7 PM to watch the 60 minute show live as it happens, then stay tuned at 8:05 PM for the encore performance. The encore is not broadcast on radio due to time restraints.

The webcast happens live and the show is made available as a podcast soon after the show date. Visit this page for more information about the WoodSongs Podcast.

If you’d like to be part of the studio audience, the ticket cost is $10. More information is available here.

The newest release from David Grisman’s Acoustic Disc label is a duo project featuring he and John Sebastian. Entitled Satisfied, it features these two on acoustic guitar, mandolin family instruments and harmonica on a mixed set of songs and tunes. The 14 selections are taken from the repertoire of blues, folk and traditional music, plus a couple of Dawg tunes and a few from the great American songbook of show music.

This is by no means a bluegrass recording (obligatory disclaimer), but fans of the music of these two genre-defining acoustic artists are sure to be satisfied with the result. My own bias towards this project comes from the twin facts that I was a huge Lovin’ Spoonful fan as a young boy in the 60’s, and the impact that Grisman’s first Quintet album had on me as a young student of bluegrass and acoustic music in 1977.

The Spoonful was a pop sensation at the time, with Sebastian front and center, the group’s name having come from a Mississippi John Hurt song, Coffee Blues, which is included here. Grisman, of course, charted new territory with his Dawg music, but has always betrayed the heart and soul of bluegrass in everything he has done.

One of the great treats upon opening the CD case was finding photos of both Sebastian and Grisman from their “early days” not long after they met as students at New York University in the early 1960s. Grisman was deep into a study of bluegrass at the time while Sebastian was immersed in Delta blues, but the two became friends and even performed together as members of The Even Dozen Jug Band.

Though their careers went in different directions after college, they found themselves performing an impromptu duo set at a concert in 2005, an event that led directly to this new collaboration.

The tracks were cut a la Grisman’s Acoustic Disc formula - meaning everything was recorded live in the studio, sans overdubs. There is a very raw, and ultimately satisfying appeal to this CD, and this may be a big part of it.

Look for Satisfied to be released on November 6, though it does seem to be available for download sale (MP3 and FLAC) at livedownloads.com.

Mountain Heart picked up an unusual last minute gig this past weekend that turned out to be something of a spooky good time for all concerned.

Jim VanCleve tells us that they were returning home from Ashland, KY late Friday night, anticipating a rare Saturday off at home, when they got a call from country star and successful author Naomi Judd’s management asking if the band was free the following night.

“It turns out that Naomi Judd is a big fan of Mountain Heart and wanted to see if we could come and play for a Halloween Costume Party she was having at her farm near Franklin, TN. We got back to town and ran down there to play, and it was absolutely a blast! It was the first party crowd we’ve ever had where everybody sat down in chairs to actually watch the show.

It was kind of funny. Here’s all these very influential people…in Halloween costumes sitting there and taking in a Mountain Heart show. Surreal might be the word.

We even took part in the large scale photo shoot after the “Best Costume Awards,” where they attempted to photograph roughly 60 people dressed up as airline pilots and vikings and vampires and hippies… and a bluegrass band.”

Jim said that unfortunately, Adam Steffey had plans for Saturday evening and wasn’t able to make the show, so Aaron Ramsey filled in on mandolin.

Don’t forget that we are still accepting entries to win a free, autographed copy of the new Mountain Heart CD, Road That Never Ends: the live album. Other Mountain Heart merchandise, such as t-shirts and ball caps, will also be given away.

If you downloaded the free audio track from this CD last week, you are already registered for the CD giveaway. Everyone else can simply visit this page to register.

Registration will remain open through Friday of this week (Nov 2, 2007). Six winners will be notified by email early next week.

The Bradford Street Bluegrass show on WOMR-FM is being given over to haunts and haints tomorrow in honor of Halloween. The show airs regularly on Wednesday evenings from 5:00-8:00 p.m. (ET), so the program hosts decided to use a Halloween theme this week, and get listeners’ suggestions for appropriate bluegrass songs to feature.

Co-host Ben Hughes said that they have received a great response to their Bluegrass Halloween concept.

“We’ve been having people email us requests for songs they want to hear in the haunting categories of murder, spooky, and just plain scary, and have about 67 songs ready and cued up to go.”

You can suggest a tune yourself by calling the WOMR request line (800.921.9667) or by emailing Ben.

If you live near Boston on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, you can catch their spooky tunes on Wednesday evening at 92.1 FM, and folks worldwide can listen in via the station’s live audio stream.

OK… I’ve been promising to try and catch up on a backlog of new CDs we’ve received (or picked up at IBMA) - and this time, I really mean it! Since major news is slow this time of year, I’ll make a point to try and cover one each day until we get caught up.

One that has been lingering quite some time in my pile is the debut, self-titled release from southeastern Michigan’s Lonesome County.

Those of us who live in that fertile country where bluegrass music first emerged are justifiably proud of our musical heritage, but while we enjoy being part of that culture, we may sometimes forget that bluegrass lives and breathes all over the world. Just because a band isn’t from VA, TN, NC or KY doesn’t mean they don’t play the music with passion and precision.

Case in point is Lonesome County, whose members are drawn to the music as an avocation, and produced their first project earlier this year. Their sound - and many of the song themes - pay homage to the music’s Appalachian roots despite being closer to Motor City than Bill Monroe’s homeplace.

The band has written the majority of the material for this CD, both instrumental and vocal, most of it contributed by guitarist Chad Jeremy. Other members include Paul Shapiro on bass, Kevin Frank on mandolin, Marty Somberg on fiddle, and Lee Kaufmann on banjo. Lee is the only band member who works full-time in music, teaching private lessons and running an online banjo instruction site, BanjoTrain.com.

Lonesome County has provided both audio and video samples on their web site so that folks who may be unfamiliar with their music can spend a few moments and decide for themselves whether they will enjoy the CD.

At this point, online orders are not supported on their web site, but will be available from CD Baby later this week. Visitors to the site are welcome to contact the band via the web site if they would like to order a copy of Lonesome County right away.

Our UK correspondent, Richard F Thompson, shares this review.

Cedar Hill is renowned for its adherence to the ultra-traditional style of bluegrass and nothing much has changed with the group’s switch from Hay Holler Records to the recently-formed Blue Circle Records label .

The latest release, Poverty Row (Blue Circle BCR-011), serves as a showcase for fiddler Lisa Ray’s crystal clear and emotive lead singing, more Rhonda Vincent than Alison Krauss in character. Ms Ray is featured in that role on no less than eight of the 12 tracks and two of those are instrumentals. Her voice is keening on the driving opening track, plaintive on the title song, another classic from the pens of Miss Dixie and Tom T Hall and melodious on another great Hall-written number, Big Blue Roses that bears all the hallmarks of a top-notch country song of the 1950s, both in its writing and its performance. Ferrell Stowe’s resophonic guitar playing is a significant factor in creating that sound. Apparently, folks have been asking for awhile now to hear more of Lisa’s vocals and nobody can be disappointed by those three opening tracks.

There’s two instrumentals, the quaintly titled Whiskers In The Sink, by Lisa Ray, which has the hallmarks of those swinging fiddle numbers that Kenny Baker led back in the days of his tenure as a Blue Grass Boy, and Soldier’s Joy, with clawhammer banjo from guest Bobby Minner, who with Ronnie Bowman wrote the closing number, Blood Stained Bible, which relates a story about an Army Chaplain involved in the Normandy troop landing.

Rob Collins shows that he has a fine voice on two numbers, the country standard, Love Gone Cold and Call Me Gone, one of two songs that the songwriter Frank Ray calls, “light hearted songs.” (more…)

Last week we posted about the new Randy Kohrs video being included in the Pure 12-Pack Countdown on CMT’s new digital music channel, CMT Pure. Randy was pitted against top country entertainers for viewer votes, and he came in number 3 overall in the poll. Only Dwight Yoakam and Blake Shelton’s videos received more votes than Randy’s.

When we made mention of the online vote and suggested that support from the bluegrass community might put them in the running, Randy’s video for Who’s Goin’ With Me wasn’t even in the top 12. What a fine thing to see a bluegrass artist do so well based on grassroots appeal.
Randy asked us to thank everyone who voted for them at CMT.com, and mention that they are once again in the countdown this week, with voting closed on Wednesday (10/31), and the winners announced on Friday (11/2).

Here’s the video, which features Randy and his crack band (The Lites), along with a bevy of bluegrass notables in either feature or cameo roles. Recognize anyone?

Don’t forget to register to win a free, autographed copy of the new Mountain Heart CD, Road That Never Ends: the live album. Other Mountain Heart merchandise, such as t-shirts and ball caps, will also be given away.

If you downloaded the free audio track from this CD last week, you are already registered for the CD giveaway. Everyone else can simply visit this page to register.

Registration will remain open through Friday of this week (Nov 2, 2007). Six winners will be notified by email early next week.

Thanks to Mountain Heart and Rural Rhythm Records for providing the prizes for this giveaway.

Bluegrass singer/songwriter Gary Ferguson took a different approach for his most recent CD. Instead of hunkering down in the studio for days of intense recording, he enlisted the support of some friends -  top bluegrass performers all - and cut the tracks live at a festival show.

The result is Gary Ferguson and Friends - Live at Podunk, recorded at the Podunk Bluegrass Festival in Connecticut. Assisting on the CD are Mike Auldridge, Gail Wade, Ron Stewart, Emory Lester, Kene Hyatt and Marc Roy.

Audio samples and download purchases are available at DigStation, and info about mail orders can be found on Gary’s MySpace page.

We’ve posted many times over the past two years about the Pickin’ On series from CMH Records. This impressive series (234 titles and counting) involves bluegrass instrumental tributes to successful pop, rock and country artists.

Many have featured some of bluegrass music’s most celebrated players, and introduced fiery bluegrass picking to new listeners based on their primary interest in the artists whose career is receiving the grassy tributes.

We hear from CMH that they are currently searching for new producers and bands for upcoming tribute projects. They ask that anyone interested in being a part of future tributes should contact either Jim Silvers or Greg Sanford at CMH.

Our UK correspondent, Richard F Thompson, remembers Benny Williams, and recounts his long, and largely unheralded career in bluegrass and country music.

Benjamin Horace “Benny” Williams: March 28, 1931 - October 11, 2007.

Benny Williams died earlier this month in St Thomas Hospital, Nashville, Tennessee, from natural causes. He was 76 years old.

One of bluegrass music’s unsung ‘Mr Versatiles,’ Williams was born on Dayton Mountain, Bledsoe County on the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee. For nearly fifty years, he was noted as one of country music’s most accomplished musicians, singers and songwriters. During his career, he worked with such luminaries as Marty Robbins, Grandpa Jones, Jimmy Martin, Kitty Wells and Johnny Wright, Stonewall Jackson and others (see below). He was adept on autoharp, mandolin, guitar, banjo and, most notably, fiddle.

While still a teenager, Williams got his first job as a bluegrass sideman when he went to work with Mac Wiseman on the Old Dominion Barn Dance in Richmond, Virginia. Then, as a 25-year old, Williams was a member of the Tennessee Cut-Ups when Reno and Smiley were fully re-united after a brief break in the mid-1950s. Subsequently, he had a brief stint with the Stanley Brothers firstly, then with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs.

In 1961 Williams joined the Blue Grass Boy, playing guitar. Later he showed his versatility by switching to play the fiddle and he stayed with that instrument for most of the remainder of his time with Bill Monroe, which ended late in 1967.

He leaves a legacy in the form of contributions to many recordings made during the classic country and bluegrass music era.

In August 1956, during a 12-song recording session in Cincinnati, Williams played some cross-picked mandolin breaks - learned independently from Jesse McReynolds - on Never Get To Hold You In My Arms Anymore and mandolin or fiddle on other songs. These recordings are available on the 4-CD box set, Reno & Smiley and the Tennessee Cut-Ups 1951-1959 [King KBSCD 7001]. (more…)

We got this note a short while ago from Penni McDaniel at Hope River Entertainment regarding teen-aged bluegrass multi-instrumentalist Ryan Holladay.

This report comes from Casey Henry, a banjo player and writer living in Nashville, TN. She performed the past few years with her brother, Chris, in The Two Stringers, now disbanded.

Both Cliff Wagner and the Old #7 and the Clark Brothers did us proud on Friday night’s Next Great American Band. Twelve bands performed two tunes each for the judges and the live studio audience, and for the millions watching at home. Each band played one original tune and one Bob Dylan tune. The judges commented on every band, though at this point the decision is entirely up to the TV audience calling in their votes.

This week before each band’s performance a short video bio of the group was shown. (You can watch clips of these on the NGAB site.) The Old #7’s clip showed the guys picking (Lucas Cheadle – Bass, Devitt Feeley - Mandolin, Craig Ferguson – Guitar/Dobro, Stephen Aram Mugalian – Drums) and Cliff taking a long swig of moonshine from a mason jar, which was probably what prompted judge John Rzeznik (of the Goo Goo Dolls) to comment, “I want to party with you guys.”

Cliff’s Dylan selection was Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright, a song that lends itself well to a bluegrass arrangement. His original tune was called Old Fire, “a tender love song,” he said, “about tender love and diesel fuel” that had a catchy hook. Judge Sheila E. (who has played with Prince and Ringo Starr, among others) said of the song, “I could listen to that all day long.”

The Clark Brothers rocked Maggie’s Farm, their Dylan song, managing to sound like far more than just three people, with Ashley playing fiddle and singing simultaneously (always impressive). However judge Ian Dickson, who consistently finds something negative to say, commented they shouldn’t have messed with the simple melody. After an instant instrument trade (making it obvious that the show was pre-recorded) they rendered their original Billy the Kid, a gritty story song that they performed magnificently.

Now it’s up to the viewers to call in their votes. Phone lines were open for two hours following the show. We’ll find out when we tune in next week which two bands get the axe. In the meantime the bands, who are sequestered in a hotel somewhere, will be working up an Elton John or Bernie Taupin song.

I can’t wait to hear Elton John bluegrass style!

A big thanks to everyone who participated in our free Mountain Heart download promotion. We hope you enjoy the song. The new CD is in stores this week, but don’t forget that you can still register for our CD giveaway.

Just visit this page and register to win one of six autographed copies of the new CD, Road That Never Ends: the live album. Other Mountain Heart merchandise, such as t-shirts and ball caps, will also be given away.

Registration will remain open through Friday of next week (Nov 2, 2007). At that time six winners will be randomly selected from among the entries. We will contact the winners via email to get shipping info.

This is one fantastic album folks, you’re going to want a copy for yourself. Enter now and win an autographed copy!

And yet even more great music on the radio today… Tonight (10/26) at 8:00 p.m., Canadian banjoist Jayme Stone will be featured on CBC Radio 2’s Canada Live program.

CBC will be broadcasting a pair of concerts featuring Stone’s eclectic tastes and inventive banjo style. The first pairs Jayme with Mansa Sissoko, a singer/songwriter from Mali in West Africa, with whom Jayme will be recording next year. The other is from the 2007 Small World Festival’s World On A String concert this past September.

The musicians featured with Jayme hail from far-flung parts of the globe, and each contributed on their own instrument, a few of which may be unfamiliar to US and Canadian audiences. Joining Jayme are Aditya Verma playing sarod, Amir Koushkani on the tar, Mansa Sissoko on the kora, Levon Ichkanian on the oud and Rich Brown on the bass.

Jayme shared a brief description of the program:

“The World On A String concert featured many original pieces as well as some traditional ones. We did a version of my tune Garuda (from The Utmost) with a Persian banjo-like instrument called a tar. Mansa (from Mali) and Aditya (from India) even wrote a piece together the first day of rehearsal! Rich brought in an arrangement of a beautiful lullaby from an island near Jamaica, and Aditya had an original piece full of these complex Indian rhythms and cadences that rocked my world. I even taught Amir (from Iran) how to play the old-time fiddle tune ways of the world, but it never made it onstage.

We spent three days rehearsing and creating new music, and then premiered it all at the beautiful Enwave Theatre in Toronto. For me, it was honor to play with such extraordinary musicians!

This was an exciting collaboration and everyone in the audience could feel the camaraderie and joy in the group. There’s even talk of a possible tour and recording project one day.”

Listen in for Canada Live tonight from 8:00-10:00 p.m. (ET) on Radio 2, or via live streaming on the CBC web site. The concerts will also be available in their audio archives (Concerts On Demand) after the program is broadcast on Friday night.

Stephen Mougin, of the Sam Bush Band, just emailed in to let us know that he is currently visiting Slovakia and doing a number of shows with friends while there.

He played last weekend with the band Fragment. Fragment has toured several times in the US and features Steven’s wife Jana on bass and vocals, along with Petr Brandejs on banjo, Ondra Kozak on fiddle, guitar and vocals, and Henrich Novak on dobro and vocals.

I chopped along on mandolin and added some solos when I thought I knew the tune!! The band sounds great as usual… my only question… where do they keep finding those HOSS guitar players???? There’s got to be something in the water over here! Or is it the beer????

This weekend Stephen will be playing a concert with Henrich on Sunday. The show will focus on Henrich’s resophonic guitar playing with Stephen accompanying him. Material will range from bluegrass to americana, in Slovakia folks! Stephen also suggested that members of the band Grass Country Drive may join them towards the end of the show for a few traditional bluegrass numbers.

His visit will culminate with what he termed an “out and out bluegrass celebration” on November 3, 2007. The concert that evening will feature Sidlo, Grass Country Drive, and Stephen Mougin. Stephen will play guitar and be joined that evening by some native Slovakian pickers, some of whom will be familiar to IBMA 2007 attendies. Milan Benkovic (resophonic guitar) and Michael Barok (mandolin) from the band Meantime will be part of Stephen’s ensemble that evening. Rounding out the sound will be Richard Cifersky on banjo, and Roman Sykora on bass.

Here’s what Stephen has to say about picking with these guys.

I rarely get to front my own band and I’m really having a great time with all of these fine pickers! They truly understand OUR music and try their best to honor it with every note!

Be sure to check out Sam Bush’s tour schedule to find a time when you can hear Stephen back here in the states.

The Grascals will pay a visit this afternoon (10/26) to the studios of WNCW in Spindale, NC. They will join Dennis Jones, WNCW Technical Director and a host on the station’s popular Saturday bluegrass show, Goin’ Across The Mountain, at 1:00 p.m. for about 45 minutes on the air.

Dennis tells us that he expects the guys to perform a number of songs live in the studio, and chat a bit about what they have been up to of late. This will be their first visit to WNCW, and Dennis is looking forward to having them on the air this afternoon.

The Grascals’ feature may be repeated on tomorrow’s (10/27) edition of Goin’ Across The Mountain, so if you miss them on Friday, tune in Saturday between 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. (ET).

WNCW can be heard in the Charlotte, NC area at 88.7 FM and is streamed live from WNCW’s website.

WFDU FM 89.1 will celebrate the grand opening of their new live performance studio today (10/26) with a special live broadcast and a bluegrass concert. The station is located on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ and serves the wider New York City area.

Today’s live show will be hosted by Carol Beaugard, whose Lonesome Rine RFD program is the station’s longest running bluegrass show. Joining Carol in the new studio will be Appalachian Uprising, a NYC band that features progressive banjo wizard Steve Lutke.

The new WFDU performance/broadcast facility will be known as The Atomic Underground/Studio C, the name inspired by the prior use of the space as a nuclear lab in the early 1960s.

The live show will air at 10:00 a.m., broadcast live in metro New York on 89.1 FM, and online at www.wfdu.fm.