IIIrd Tyme Out will be stopping by the studios of WNCW in Spindale, NC on Saturday (3/1) for a live performance, plus some discussion with Dennis Jones, host of the popular Goin’ Across The Mountain show.

The guys will be on at 2:00 p.m., and since the show is simulcast online, many folks will have their first chance to catch the most recent IIIrd Tyme Out lineup. Founding member Russel Moore still holds down the guitar and lead vocal chair, with Steve Dilling on banjo, Justen Haynes on fiddle, Edgar Loudermilk on bass, and recently returned former member Wayne Benson on mandolin.

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

“On Route 23 down in eastern Kentucky…”

So begins the mournful song written by Jack Adkins and Buddy Dee, and recorded by the Stanley Brothers in February 1958 at Radio WCYB in Bristol, VA. No School Bus In Heaven was the last official studio recording that Carter and Ralph would make for the Mercury label.

It relates the tragic story of a tragedy which took place 50 years ago in Floyd County, Kentucky, wherein 26 children and the driver of the bus in which they were traveling lost their lives when the bus plunged into the Big Sandy River

“These little school children have gone on to glory,” but they left behind heart-broken parents, families and friends. The children and the bereaved are remembered in a gut-wrenching article in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Survivors and those who lost loved ones rarely mention what happened in 1958. They spend most days at home, passing one another at the post office or the grocery store. They sit together in church, bonded by their silent grief and heavy hearts.

But it is a story the whole town knows well. Pictures of those who drowned still hang in local restaurants, schoolhouses and funeral homes.

“People don’t talk about it much. It’s too painful to talk about,” said Orville Ousley, 85, who lost one of his three sons in the accident. “When the anniversary comes each year, we avoid each other and we hide in our homes.”

Read the full piece from the Herald-Leader online.

There is yet even more great bluegrass and acoustic music available from your radio (and computer) today (2/29). Tonight’s – and tomorrow’s – Grand Ole Opry broadcasts feature a number of favorite performers.

The Friday Opry boasts performances from The Grascals, The Whites, Jesse McReynolds and The Del McCoury Band. It airs in the Nashville area (and much of the central US) on WSM-AM 650, and live online at wsmonline.com, from 7:00-11:00 p.m. (ET).

The Saturday Opry show features Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, Mike Snider, Bobby Osborne and The Del McCoury Band, and runs from 7:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Skaggs’ segment will also be carried on GAC TV ’s Opry Live at 8:00 p.m.

Tonight (2/29), Punch Brothers will be the musical guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. No doubt but that they will perform something from their just-released Nonesuch CD,  Punch.

The show airs at 11:30 p.m. (ET) on NBC, and the musical segment is usually the very last before the show concludes at 12:30 a.m. Set your TiVOs if you won’t be at home and be sure to see this exciting ensemble on TV.