We’ve heard this week from one of our regular email correspondents, who is in management with one of the larger specialty bluegrass labels.

He passed along what is surely not encouraging news for those who depend on CD sales to large retailers for a part of their income. He tells us that many executives from the Handelman Company, one of Wal-Mart’s chief CD vendors, were let go last week as a result of business decisions and performance over the past several years that have affected the company’s bottom line.

This follows another poor reporting period for the company (3rd quarter 2007) with music sales down more than 25%, and Handelman’s delisting last week by the NY Stock Exchange.

Our correspondent also reports that record labels are expecting larger than normal product returns from Borders this quarter as a result of financial issues that are being resolved internally.

Some of this may turn out to be industry scuttlebutt, but coupled with the recent closing of The Record Depot, among the oldest and largest wholesale distributors of bluegrass and old time music, the picture continues to be bleak and uncertain for retail music sales in our business.

Spring is in the air and all the bluegrass festivals are announcing finalized schedules for this festival season.

The 42nd Annual Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival is no exception. And this festival is a major one for traditional bluegrass fans. The festival begins on Saturday, June 14th and runs 8 days, wrapping up on Saturday, June 21st. During the course of those eight days, over 50 bands are scheduled to perform.

In addition to the many performances throughout the week, there are also a number of instructional workshops for pickers of all skill levels, as well as workshops for singers, songwriters, band promotion, festival history, and more. There is also a dedicated Youth Activity Tent for children and teens interested in learning more about the music.

Tickets are currently available at advanced purchase prices (that ends June 2), ranging from $15 to $125. On-site camping is available for a fee, but daily parking is free.

For more information and directions, please visit www.BeanBlossom.com

Here’s the list of bands scheduled to perform each day of the festival. (more…)

Wayne Fields, most recently the banjo player with The Charlie Sizemore Band, passed away from complications associated with cancer on March 21.

The deminutive Fields was born in Hazard, Kentucky, and moved to the Lexington area at a young age. He started playing a guitar in his church at the age of eleven and grew up listening to Flatt and Scruggs on the radio.

Wayne and his brothers, Larry and Bill, plus a couple of friends put a band together and began performing all over Lexington. Although they performed all types of music, Field’s heart was always with bluegrass and the banjo.

Mostly self-taught, Fields had three lessons from a fellow employee at the local Holiday Inn, J.D. Crowe, who was playing there at the time along with Larry Rice, Tony Rice, and Bobby Sloan.

In 1977, he got his first job playing banjo for The Boys from Indiana, replacing Noah Crase. While he was a member of the band, they made an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry and on The Porter Wagoner Show.

Four years later Fields took a job with Renfro Valley regular John Cosby and the Bluegrass Drifters, with whom he won the first SPBGMA band contest in 1984.

Later that year, Wayne, his brother Bill, Ricky Wasson and Rick Johnson formed the group Southern Blend with whom he recorded and toured for 9 years. He also played with another Renfro Valley band Wilderness Trail. Other members included Dave Osborne & Jeff Parker (who played with Lonesome River Band and is now with Dailey & Vincent).

Later Fields joined J.D. Crowe, playing mandolin and singing tenor vocals for The New South.

During the last 10 years he has performed with various groups including the family band Driftwood, Gary Strong & Hardtimes, Rick Bartley & Blackwater, as well as with The Charlie Sizemore Band.

Fields is featured playing banjo and singing harmony on the stellar Charlie Sizemore album Good News that was released last year.

Wayne Fields leaves Tina, his wife, two daughters, Christina and Tiffany, and two sons Scott and Charles, both active bluegrass musicians. (more…)

After winning a Grammy this year for The Bluegrass Diaries, Jim Lauderdale has once again tapped the multi-talented Randy Kohrs to produce his next bluegrass effort.

Lauderdale is currently touring in support of his newest CD Honey Songs (a more-or-less country record), but he’s not going to let that slow down production on a new bluegrass CD. Every free moment in Nashville is being spent in Kohrs’ Slack Key Studio working on the new CD.

Randy shared a few thoughts at the outset of this recording effort.

We were both thrilled with the way “The Bluegrass Diaries” came out sonically, and my studio has been upgraded even more since then. Thanks to companies such as Stage Ninja, Great River Electronics, Violet Microphones, new Lauten Audio Microphones, and Forssell Electronics, along with the top-of-the-line equipment I already had, we’re confident this next project will sound even better. Jim’s songs and vocals, combined with the talents of the other musicians, insure that the CD will be great no matter what, but recording them in a way that will do them justice is always the biggest goal.

As much as we enjoyed the last CD, we’ll wait anxiously for this one. We’ll be sure to bring you more updates as they become available.

Bluegrass legend Jesse McReynolds has benn hosting a live radio show on WHIN Radio 1010 AM in Gallatin, TN, for a while now. But, being a local radio station, the show was previously unavailable for those outside WHIN’s broadcast area. The station has just gone online with a live stream though, so now Jesse’s live bluegrass radio show is available to all.

The Pick Inn Party Radio Show runs every weekday morning from 8-9 AM CST.

Jesse comes from the old-school mindset of live radio, so that’s the way he’s chosen to run his show. Jesse is joined by co-host Harv Mason and the two feature live music, phone calls from listeners, special guests, and more. You never know what to expect, because the entire show is done live and spontaneous!

Visit WHINRadio.com at 8 AM each weekday morning and join Jesse and Harv for some live bluegrass music and fun.

Larry Sparks is set to release his new, all-Gospel CD, I Don’t Regret A Mile, on March 27.

After his last two critically-acclaimed projects, 40 and The Last Suit You Wear - both of which featured Larry with a great many guest studio performers - he has decided to create an album with his touring band, The Lonesome Ramblers.

“I thought it would be best to go back to my road band for this album. I did use Ronnie Stewart on two songs, but I really like to have the same sound on stage and on the recordings. That is very important to me.”

The current edition of The Lonesome Ramblers includes Michael Feagon on fiddle and harmony vocals, Jackie Kincaid on mandolin and tenor vocals, Josh McMurray on banjo, Larry D. Sparks on bass, and Larry on guitar and lead vocals.

Another change this time around regards the label. Sparks has formed his own, Sparks Music, to release I Don’t Regret A Mile.

“After the Last Suit album I was really left with no recording company. McCoury Music didn’t want another Larry Sparks album so I decided to go at it myself. I’ve recorded with different labels over the years, and was with Rebel Records for 25 years. I thought we were very good for each other, thanks to Dave Freeman.

I feel that in time I can do what any other recording company can do.”

Larry tells us that there are 10 tracks on the new album, with a mix of new songs and ones that have been part of his repertoire for years.

“I always like to record new material, and I have 6 new songs here. A couple I’ve recorded before - Jesus Walks Ahead Of Me and What Kind Of Man.

I also have some good writers - Connie Leigh, Doug Crabbe, Homer and Bruce Jackson, Marshall Warick, Greg Preece, Rusty Goodman, Buddy Cannon and Larry Shell. Ralph Stanley and I put together What Kind Of Man.”

The CD will be available soon on Larry’s web site, and will be marketed to large resellers through a national distributor. Smaller stores and wholesalers will be serviced directly though Sparks Music.

There are no audio samples up at this time, but we’ll post back when we find some. Should be a good’n!

A new festival has been announced for November of 2008, which the promoters describe as the first of its kind. The Thailand Country Bluegrass Music Festival will be held in Pakchong, about 100 miles northeast of Bangkok, November 1-3.

According to the festival organizer, Thanit Tanitapanee, there is a growing interest in country and bluegrass music - and “cowboy culture” - throughout Thailand, and he is hopeful of finding 1,000 people or more in attendance when the festival debuts later this year.

“Me and my friends are working to make it happen. Because we love country and bluegrass music and we like all the musicians and the bands to get their show on stage.

The Festival would be held in Pakchong (well known for the Khao Yai World Heritage Park) 160 Kms. from Bangkok. Pakchong now names ‘Cowboy Town.’ “

Tanitapanee invites any bands or musicians who would like to perform on the festival to either contact him by email, or post a note on the blog he has set up to promote the event. He is also eager to hear from potential sponsors for the festival.

Lets hope this is only the beginning for bluegrass fests in Thailand!

“I will know my Saviour when I come to Him by the mark where the nails have been.”

Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent joined forces only very recently and memories of an earlier Gospel recording meant that the expectations of their peers was very high. The duo has launched their career on the back of a standing ovation at an IBMA showcase last October and bookings far in excess of 100 show dates. Along with a debut CD on a big bluegrass label (Dailey & Vincent), it seems that life could hardly get any better for them.

Any CD that features Dailey’s angelic voice cannot fail to succeed, but this eponymous release also possesses all the drive that Dailey and his partner Vincent have picked up from their days in the Doyle Lawson and Ricky Skaggs schools of bluegrass and elsewhere. Dailey spent nine years singing lead with Doyle Lawson, while Vincent played guitar and sang harmony with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder for the last decade, so the time was right to lead a band of their own.

With Dailey (guitar and lead and harmony vocals) and Vincent (upright bass, guitar, mandolin and lead and harmony vocals) on this 12 track CD are band mates Jeff Parker (mandolin and harmony vocals) with Joe Dean (banjo and bass vocal), and guests Andy Leftwich (fiddle and mandolin), Bryan Sutton (guitar), Stuart Duncan (fiddle) and Cody Kilby (guitar).

The CD begins at a hot lick with Sweet Carrie, a driving old school traditional song written by A L Wood and given a modern treatment. Don’t You Call My Name is of a similar ilk - a great up-tempo number. Dailey sings lead on the former, while Vincent does so on the latter.

The tempo is slower for More Than A Name On A Wall, a tribute to a fallen soldier with familial remembrances of his past. The harmonies are heavenly, as they are throughout.

Other slower tempo songs are the superb River Of Time, penned by Robert Gateley - note how the trio hold the note at the end. This is just typical of the many times that one could commend the vocalists for this feature. Take Me Back (and Leave Me There) is notable for Dailey’s high, soulful vocals and the delightfully-blended triple mandolin harmony work from Parker. (more…)

David Parmley started playing bluegrass professionally when he was a 17 year old, when he joined his father, banjoist Don Parmley in the Bluegrass Cardinals. He has been leading Continental Divide since 1994 when his father retired. This new combination became an instant success claiming IBMA’s coveted Emerging Artist of the Year award in 1995 and through the years their albums have been constantly well received.

With Parmley on their latest release, Church House Hymns, playing mandolin and singing tenor, is Randy Graham, who has long experience with The Bluegrass Cardinals, being with them from the beginning in 1975 through to the end of 1978, so the duo are ideal together [and their harmony singing here proves it]. He resumed his association with Parmley in 2000 and has only recently left the band to pursue his own booking and management company.

The third prime participant on this CD is Dale Perry, another long-time member of the Bluegrass Cardinals, plays banjo and Scruggs-style finger picked lead guitar and adds vocals. He joined Continental Divide in 2003.

Rounding out proceedings vocally is Jimmy Cameron, while Kyle Perkins plays the bass and the irrepressible Ron Stewart guests on fiddle on several of the 12 tracks.

Most of the songs on this CD were chosen by their fans and they have given Parmley and company some excellent material to work with. Originally from the old hymnals, these songs have become standards in the bluegrass Gospel genre.

Starting off with In The Gloryland Way the mood is set for what follows; assured lead vocals, excellent harmonies and solid instrumental support.

There are three songs that feature excellent finger-picked guitar - Father Along, Won’t It Be Wonderful There and You Can Feel It In Your Soul, a good, strong vocal quartet. The first has some fine understated backing.

In contrast there is the mid-tempo I’ve Got A Home In That Rock, and the up-tempo songs Are You Washed In The Blood, with its banjo kick-off, and the great quartet singing on A Soul Winner For Jesus, also praiseworthy for the fiddle kick-off. (more…)

Sirius Satellite Radio has announced that 13-time Grammy award-winning bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs will take over its Sirius Bluegrass channel (65) for an entire week. Skaggs Place will premiere on March 23 at 3 pm ET. The launch of Skaggs Place coincides with the release of Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass - Tribute to 1946 and 1947. The album which will be in stores from March 25, honors Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, specifically that aggregation that was together during those ground-breaking years.

The channel will feature Skaggs’ own music, both old and new, as well as some of Ricky’s favorite bluegrass artists, and will include personal introductions from the artist himself. Ricky will also share his feelings about his love for bluegrass and talk about his favorite bluegrass acts.

The bluegrass star and 13-time Grammy award winner Ricky Skaggs was recognized as a child prodigy for his remarkable musical talent. Skaggs began performing bluegrass with his family at the age of 17 and went on to release 10 mainstream country hits before returning to the bluegrass music fold. Skaggs recently received the 2008 Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album Grammy award for his record Salt of the Earth.

Skaggs Place continues Sirius’ tradition of creating exclusive artist branded channels dedicated to iconic figures at the top of their game. Recent exclusive channels launched on Sirius include Rolling Stones Radio, Grateful Dead Channel, E Street Radio, JAY-Z Nation, and Garth Brooks Radio, among many others.

To learn more about Skaggs Place please visit Sirius Bluegrass online.

There is much uncertainty in the business of music these days. The continuing decline of CD sales, the steadily increasing, but not sufficiently so, sales of digital downloads, the continuation of illegal music downloads, and rising price of gas, all cut into the bottom line for bluegrass performers and creators. We see a lot of statistics and speculation about downloads vs CDs, and the continuing efforts to clamp down on illegal file trading, but what we don’t often see is the efforts being made behind the scenes, by those who love the music and work in the business end of things, to come up with solutions. Solutions that will allow content creators, namely songwriters and performers, as well as the record labels, who finance a lion’s share of the cost of bringing that content to consumers, to continue to earn a living while doing what we all enjoy so much, making music.

These efforts are underway, even if we don’t often see them. What follows is the account of one such effort.

Earlier this month, ASCAP hosted an informal “living room” discussion at their Nashville office, with some of the movers and shakers in the larger music business, along with a few key persons from the bluegrass music industry.

Dan Keen serves as the Vice President of ASCAP Nashville. Dan was my Music Publishing professor when I was attending Belmont University. And more importantly, Dan is a friend of bluegrass. He wrote in to let us know what the meeting was about.

In an effort to help our bluegrass friends embrace the opportunities that the future holds for us all, we thought interaction with some folks who engage in futuristic discourse about music could be helpful. So we invited Congressman (she prefers “-man”) Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) - who co-founded the Songwriters Caucus on Capitol Hill, RIAA head Mitch Bainwol and NMPA President, David Israelite to meet with Dan Hays and other bluegrass leaders for an informal “Living Room” discussion about matters before Congress and the Courts that will have significant impact on Artists, Songwriters, Musicians and Music Execs.

The complete list of those in attendance at this meeting is as follows: Dan Hays (IBMA Exec. Dir.), John Grady (Red Light Management and former head of Sony Records, Nashville), Buddy Cannon (award-winning writer/producer), Alison Brown (1991 IBMA Banjo Player of the Year) and Garry West (owners, Compass Records), Missy Raines (7 time IBMA Bass Player of the Year), Ben Surratt (award-winning engineer), Charlotte Scott (Skaggs Family Records), David Crow (attorney, former IBMA Board Chair, fiddler with the Osborne Bros), Mike Drudge (Class Act Entertainment), Karen Byrd (publicist, fmr manager of the Grascals), Nancy Cardwell (IBMA), Ron Cox (Avenue Bank), Jon Weisberger (journalist, songwriter, and bass player), Dan Keen, Earle Simmons and Chad Green from ASCAP and of course - Rep. Blackburn, Israelite (NMPA) and Bainwol (RIAA).

All these folks sat down in the ASCAP offices and had a candid exchange about the future of the business. I exchanged emails with several of those in attendance to get an idea of the topics of conversation, and a general consensus of outlook for the future. Karen Byrd seems to sum up that consensus with this statement she made about the prevalent attitude of those involved.

I’m thankful to Dan for arranging, and to Mitch Bainwol, David Israelite, and Congressman Blackburn for sharing their time and input on key issues.  It was a great opportunity for me to learn more about the issues at stake.  I was heartened to hear differing perspectives that were united by a common desire to protect intellectual property rights.

So what did they actually talk about? David Crow shared a list of the topics he found particularly interesting during the discussion. (more…)

The Steeldrivers paid a visit this week to Michael Jonathon’s Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour. The show airs live on Monday evenings from Lexington, KY in both audio and video formats, and the shows are available for online viewing after the fact.

Their performance can now be seen on the Woodsongs web site, where they perform a number of songs from their recently released, self-titled project on Rounder and talk with Jonathon about their music.

Singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer also guests on this show.

Destination festival RockyGrass, in Lyons, CO, has announced it’s daily lineups for the 2008 festival. 2008 marks the 36th year of the RockyGrass festival. Bill Monroe himself is credited with the founding of the festival in 1973. The festival is scheduled for July 25-27, 2008.

As part of the larger Planet Bluegrass network, RockyGrass takes on a more traditional tone than the other events in the family. This year’s festival is no exception. To be sure, there are a few acts on the list that are not in the traditional camp, but overall, the line up is solidly bluegrass in nature. Here are the daily lineups of performers.

Friday, July 25
Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas & Edgar Meyer * Dan Tyminski Band * Béla Fleck & Friends * John Cowan Band * Russ Barenberg & Bryan Sutton * The Steeldrivers * Mike Marshall & Darol Anger * Spring Creek Bluegrass Band

Saturday, July 26
Natalie MacMaster * Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile * Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet featuring Béla Fleck * Psychograss * Infamous Stringdusters * Bearfoot * Chatham County Line

Sunday, July 27
Sam Bush Bluegrass Band * Carolina Chocolate Drops * Peter Rowan * JD Crowe & The New South * Adrienne Young & Little Sadie * Stairwell Sisters * Gospel Set featuring Jeremy Garrett

In addition to the music on the main stage, RockyGrass features nationally-recognized instrument and band contests as well as workshops throughout the day in the Wildflower Pavilion. When the official music ends, musicians of all levels and ages head to the campgrounds where dozens of jam circles flourish late into the night.

If this sounds like a festival you’d like to attend, you’d better act quickly. The festival usually sells out in May. Camping passes are already sold out (they were gone in November, before a lineup was even announced).

And don’t forget about the RockyGrass Academy. These four days of instructional workshops are taught by bluegrass luminaries: Bryan Sutton, Russ Barenberg, Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, Tony Trischka, Mike Bub, and band’s-in-residence Infamous Stringdusters, Psychograss, and Bearfoot. The RockyGrass Academy webpage states that most of the slots in the academy are already gone, but there are a few openings left at this time.

Tickets for both evens are available online at Bluegrass.com.

Where No One Stands Alone is Paul Williams’ seventh album for Rebel Records; all have been in the bluegrass Gospel style. That has been Williams’ chosen path for several years now, since retiring from his day job. He has been well rewarded for his endeavours with several awards from SPBGMA and nominations for IBMA awards. He deserves the roses.This latest CD consists of 14 tracks in all, five of which were written by Williams (credited as Paul Humphrey, as usual), a couple arranged by him and the balance, including Joe Isaacs’ classic I Pressed Through The Crowd, from various other sources.

Vocally, all but two songs is a trio, with Williams (mandolin, and lead or tenor) accompanied by Kelly McCord (guitar and lead or tenor) and Rodney Worley (fiddle, guitar and baritone). The variations are found with Could That Be Jesus?, a duet with McCord taking the lead to Williams’ tenor, and the a cappella quartet Thank You Jesus, which incorporates Kevin Bowen, singing bass, underpinning Williams’ high lead, McCord’s low-tenor and Worley’s baritone. Matt Wallace makes sure that the rhythm section is solid throughout.

There are many great performances here and more are recognisable as one listens again and again . The quintet is assured from the beginning with The Other Side Of Jordan and continues with A Long Time Ago, where the subject has salvation at an early time in his life and exists thereafter with a certainty about his final destination. Beautiful Heaven and When We’re Living On The Other Side are both characterised by yet more stellar lead vocals, great close harmony singing, a soaring ending and neat flat-pick guitar from Worley. The latter has McCord singing lead and intricate vocal interplay, and both are excellent songs written by Williams.

I’m Getting Anxious begins with a spoken introduction showing that there is still scope for something different here and there.

A Dusty Pair Of Sandals, written by Linda King, urges a steadfastness in spiritual belief. “Don’t let trials and tribulations make you doubt, when great troubles overtake you, don’t give in and don’t give out.” Jesus will be there for you. Williams and co., with McCord singing lead, capture the associated tension very well.

Writer Ernie Groves questions the churches’ solidarity with its original mission in Modernize Churches, asking for a return to the old time way. That Same Road uses the length of a highway as an analogy for a life of struggle without God, suggesting that the road is longer if you have been too far from God.

Another stellar performance can be heard in Could That Be Jesus?, with its almost pleading refrain asking for His presence to assist in the crossing of the spiritual waters. The collection ends with a driving rendition of I Know My Lord Is Going To Lead Me Out.

Everybody describes Paul Williams as a “gentleman;” he lives his life by his beliefs and that comes out in his writing and his singing. Listening to Where No One Stands Alone leaves no doubt about his strong convictions and his prowess as a musician.

Audio samples can be found in iTunes.

Sugar Hill has announced June 10 as the release date for the new project from The Infamous Stringdusters. The CD was produced by Tim O’Brien, and contains 13 tracks, most of them written within the band, including three hot instrumentals.

Oddly enough for a sophomore effort, the new release will be self-titled, and we asked banjo picker Chris Pandolfi what was up with that.

“Our first record, Fork in The Road, came together before we were really a band. We were getting things rolling but had not toured or even worked much on music as a group. more than anything, we were excited about starting the Stringdusters, but in some ways the band didn’t quite exist yet. This second record is the product of over two years of playing together. We’ve learned a lot about how to make music as a group, and we feel like this new record reflects that sound.”

I had a chance for a quick listen to the new CD this afternoon, and think that ‘Dusters fans will find much to their liking on this one. The singing and the songwriting come across as more mature - as you would expect - and the sound of the album is gorgeous as well.

I’m sure that we’ll have a lot more to say about The Infamous Stringdusters between now and the June release date.

The Mashville Brigade may not be that familiar a name to most festival going bluegrass fans, but the individual members of the band should be. The Brigade is comprised of: Aaron McDaris (The Grascals) on banjo and harmony vocals; Darrell Webb (Rhonda Vincent & The Rage) on guitar and lead vocals; Ashby Frank (Special Consensus) lead vocals and mandolin; Jim VanCleve (Mountain Heart) on fiddle; and Randy Barnes (NewFound Road) on bass.

The Brigade is today’s modern version of the Sidemen. Started a year or so ago as a fun midweek gig at The Station Inn in Nashville, The Mashville Brigade releases it’s first CD on April 22, 2008. The CD is produced by the band’s own Jim VanCleve, and contains 16 tracks, all of them standard bluegrass hits. Bearing the title Bluegrass Smash Hits, Volume 1, this disc is the first in a new series of releases planned by Rural Rhythm Records.

Ashby Frank commented on the genesis of the group.

I’ve gotten to pick with these guys at various festivals and in the halls and rooms of events like IBMA, SPBMGA, and the Galax Fiddlers Convention for years. Since we both grew up in North Carolina, I’ve known Jim for the longest, actually before I even really got into Bluegrass. The first time I ever played on a Bluegrass Festival stage was with Jim in Denton, NC. I think we put together a band with my sister and opened up the festival on a Tuesday or Wednesday night.

Randy, Darrell, Jim, Aaron and myself have performed with each other as a part of quite a few different collaborations, through fill-in work or special events like the MACC Festival in Columbus, OH. Once all of us had moved to Nashville, we talked about getting something together to play around town and maybe a festival or two. It took us a few years to get together, but it’s finally worked out, and it’s a whole lot of fun.

The band started basically as a new version of the Sidemen, the infamous group that used to perform every Tuesday night at the Station Inn. The Mashville Brigade started filling that same time slot and as Jim VanCleve tells it, one thing just led to another.

The Mashville Brigade has really grown into something much larger than we ever could have anticipated from when we first began playing at the Station Inn a little over a year ago. It all basically started as an outlet for us to have some fun while playing the music we all grew up on. But since the bluegrass culture around Nashville is really a pretty tight-knit bunch of friends, we suddenly had a good sized audience each Tuesday night, full of friends and family, in a room that is known for bringing out the best in people. This comfortable atmosphere really allowed the music to grow and take on it’s own unique personality. It was really starting to blow up, and the crowds just kept getting better each week. So, after some time, we started thinking, “this band really needs to record something”! Now, after listening back to the masters of the Mashville Brigade’s first album, I can honestly say that we are all very happy with what we were able to do!

The CD was recorded in a rather unique manner for the age we live in. The guys met at the Station Inn, their primary creative outlet, during the daylight hours and tracked the entire thing in under 8 hours with no overdubs. (more…)

We posted earlier this week with a banjo sighting on Fox Television’s smash hit, American Idol. Now comes word from Phil Leadbetter, reso-man with Grasstowne, about the appearance of one of his signature Dobro guitars on the show.

The Leadbetter model Dobro was in the hands of Austin Clark, of The Clark Brothers, who won The Next Great American Band competition earlier this year. He was accompanying Kellie Pickler for her Idol performance on 3/19.

Uncle Phil was delighted with his virtual appearance on American Idol. 

Lloyd Loar’s is a name spoken in hushed and reverential tones when serious students of fretted instruments get together to discuss their shared passion. In the bluegrass world especially, his contributions are remembered with a great debt of gratitude.

During a brief period in the early 1920s, Loar worked for the Gibson company in Kalamazoo, MI and introduced a number of design innovations, many of which are still in use today. Chiefly, his fusing of the design and construction techniques of violin building to the mandolin family of instruments launched an eight string revolution, and gave us what we now generically describe as the F-style instrument. The mandolins which he signed during his tenure at Gibson command prices that dwarf anything they have made since.

Roger Siminoff is one of the modern era’s most celebrated historians of Lloyd Loar, and a leading luthier in his own right. His biographical sketch of Loar’s life (published online) is regularly referenced as the most accurate, and is loaded with photos and details of his life, both before and after his time with Gibson.

Siminoff has just published a book that will be of interest to Loar-ophiles the world over, as well as anyone with an interest in the melding of scienece and music. The Physics Of Music is taken from a detailed set of lab notes transcribed by a student in one of Loar’s classes starting in June 1943 and continuing until his death later that year. The notes have been preserved since they were donated to Loar’s widow, and Siminoff has copied these detailed notes word-for-word, and included scans of the illustrations as well.

Roger describes the contents as follows:

“Professor Loar taught at Northwestern University for 13 years and while he taught other subjects, The Physics of Music was his predominant class. The School of Music catalog listed Loar’s class for 1944 as including electronics and it became a 4-credit class (where previous classes were 3-credits). Unfortunately, he didn’t live to give that class. I have a listing of his classes on my web site at this page here.

While the content might have been new and interesting for the students, I don’t think anything in this class was “groundbreaking” as far as the music industry is concerned. While the groundwork on musical acoustics was done by folks as early as Pythagoras (570-490 BC) through to Hermann Helmholtz (1821-1894), and the major development of acoustical instruments done by the Amati family, Guanari, and Stradivari (in the period 1500s to 1700 AD), in 1943 Loar was reporting the science of musical acoustics as it was in his day. He was sharing what was fairly well known and documented at that time.

I found quite a bit that both surprised and enlightened me including: 1) specific reference to tuned bodies and air chambers of violin from the great makers, 2) his comments on how “lute family” instruments (which in his mind included mandolins) didn’t measure up to violin family instruments, 3) and generally, his rich understanding of musical acoustics and how he presented it to a college class.

His conclusion - the last class - probably would have been very interesting, but he didn’t live to give Lecture 12. I think what is important in this piece is that we hear it from Professor Loar, and we get a sense of his diversity of thought.”

The book runs to 44 spiral-bound pages and is available exclusively from Siminoff Banjo and Mandolin.

Here’s an interesting little episode for you. This comes from The Bowling Green News police blotter.

These events took place last night at 3:53 AM on the campus of Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH.

Campus police respond to a complaint of someone playing a banjo too loudly outside East Offenhauer. Subjects were advised to “call it a night.”

Now that’s just harsh! Who would complain about a banjo in the dorm at 4 AM?! I guess the soothing sound of a forward roll wasn’t helping him sleep.

My recent involvement with Bill Evans’ Banjo In America program has me looking at banjo history a bit. So when I saw this news I thought it was worth sharing.

The Univeristy of Flordia is hosting a five hour event tomorrow afternoon entitled AIM for African Akonting/Banjo Symposium.

The symposium…explores the common ancestry and unique musical and cultural expressions of the New World banjo and its West African ancestors. These instruments include the akonting, a three-stringed instrument played by the Jola people of Senegal and Gambia, and the ngoni, a plucked lute from Mali.

The symposium will begin and 1 PM and continue until 6 PM. After a one hour break for dinner, attendees will be treated to a special concert beginning at 7 PM and featuring performers from both America and Africa.

The evening will begin with a historical presentation by noted scholars and musicians Shlomo Pestcoe and Greg C. Adams, followed by performances featuring the Grammy-nominated duo of Bob Carlin and Cheick Hamala Diabate of Mali. Also performing are Sana Ndiaye of Senegal and American banjo luminaries Bill Keith, Laura Boosinger, Dan Gellert, Ken Perlman and Gainesville’s own Chuck Levy.

Tickets for the event are $60 at the door ($50 for students), and include both the symposium, dinner, and admission to the concert. Tickets for the concert may be purchased separately for $15 ($10 for students).