Andy Carlson, the chair of the music department at Denison, began the bluegrass ensemble in 2000. Carlson is a classically trained violinist who inherited a love of fiddle music from his grandfather.
Carlson discusses the social aspects of bluegrass music compared to classical. The lack of music stands, and the interaction between musicians generates close friendships among the bluegrass students. One of the students attributes it to the extra, non-class, practice that is required to work the material up. She says they have cookouts and hang out with each other even after the final concerts are over, just because they enjoy playing music together.
The story is online both in text and mp3 formats. The mp3 is only a couple minutes long, but you get a chance to hear the ensemble performing various tunes in the background while the interviews are conducted.
posted by Richard Thompson on 05.31.08 @ 8:12 am Tag: Bean Blossom
In November last year Jim Peva gave notice of the impending sale of the Bill Monroe Memorial Park and Campground, home of the famous Bean Blossom bluegrass festivals.
More recently, he informed us of current plans. Following on from that comes news of the formation, by a group of devoted enthusiasts and industry folks, of the Bean Blossom Brown County Jamboree Preservation Foundation Inc. in a continued effort to ensure that the Bill Monroe Memorial Park and Campground continues to be the “Mecca of Bluegrass” for generations to come.
In an expression of his support for the Bean Blossom Jamboree Foundation (BBJF), park owner Dwight Dillman, a former banjo player with the Blue Grass Boys, recently removed the For Sale sign posted at the entrance to the park. Although not part of the Board of Directors or the Advisory Committee, Dillman endorses the Foundation’s plan to purchase and operate the park in accordance with its rich history and traditions.
The mission of the foundation is to establish a permanent music park and education center on the hallowed grounds where, Bean Blossom, the longest continuously-running bluegrass festival began in June 1967. Before Bill Monroe purchased the site, in 1951, it was home to the Brown County Jamboree that was held in the Brown County Jamboree Barn, which was officially opened in 1943.
The Bean Blossom Brown County Jamboree Preservation Foundation will have an information booth set up at all the events that take place at Bean Blossom including Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival (June 14-21), Bean Blossom Gospel Jubilee (July 30 - August 2), Uncle Pen Days (September 24-27) and Hillbilly Wagon Train Jam (October 2-4). The Foundation will also be at ROMP (June 26-28) in Owensboro, Kentucky.
BBJF Director Tom Adler said …….
“Our mission is to preserve the music park at Bean Blossom in perpetuity and continue the Brown County Jamboree’s heritage of musical shows and the bluegrass music festivals established at Bean Blossom by the Father of Bluegrass Music, Bill Monroe. The vision of the Foundation is a permanent music park and educational center, grounded in the history of the musical events at Bean Blossom.
If you are one of the many bluegrass fans with ‘Bean Blossom Memories’ of your own, and would like to see the history and traditions associated with the site of the world’s longest continuously-running bluegrass festival preserved for generations to come, you can play a key role!”
posted by Richard Thompson on 05.31.08 @ 4:32 am Tag: Bluegrass At Large
Folk singer, raconteur and activist Bruce Duncan ‘Utah’ Phillips, whose songs included tales of the state’s working class and tragedies, passed away in his sleep at 11:30pm PDT on May 23, aged 73, ending a roughly ten year bout with congestive heart failure. He lived in Nevada City, California.
Born May 15, 1935, in Cleveland, Ohio, to labor organizer parents, Phillips and his family moved to Utah in 1947 whereupon he began his deep interest in the state’s working class, particularly the Mormons and their folklore.
He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Later, as a member of the Peace and Freedom Party, he failed in a bid for a place in the U S Senate.
Phillips drew from influences as diverse as Borscht Belt comedian Myron Cohen, folksingers Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and country stars Hank Williams and T Texas Tyler.
He wrote John D Lee, a recounting of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Another song, Scofield Mine Disaster, recalled the 1900 central Utah coal mine explosion that killed 200 people. His songs became more widely known when Rosalie Sorrels recorded If I Could Be The Rain.
A number of his songs were covered by bluegrass acts - I’ll Be On That Good Road Someday (recorded by Flatt & Scruggs, and Butch Robins), Orphan Train (Dry Branch Fire Squad), Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia (Emmylou Harris), Starlight On The Rails and Rock, Salt And Nails (both recorded by Flatt & Scruggs). The last named song was also recorded by JD Crowe & The New South, Joan Baez and Waylon Jennings. Others who recorded material penned by Philips include Linda Ronstadt (Silver Wings), Tom Waits and Joe Ely. (more…)
The show will broadcast live from Las Cruces, NM on May 31 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. (EDT) over a great many stations in the US, and on XM Satellite Radio track 133. Broadcast times vary from one affiliate to another, with many carrying the live feed on Saturday afternoons, and others running it instead early on Sunday afternoon. Check local listings for air times in your area.
You can also listen live online, accessed using Windows Media Player from the PHC web site. Past shows are also archived online, with audio files usually available by the Monday morning following a weekend broadcast.
The show runs just over an hour and includes a number of Doyle’s most popular numbers, plus several songs from his current Gospel release, Help Is On The Way.
It may also be your last chance to see fiddler (and bass vocalist) Alan Johnson as a member of the band, as he will be departing after this weekend.
The second Rural Rhythm release from Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain isn’t due until July 29, but a single has been released to bluegrass radio this week.
The song is I Can Go Back Anytime, written by Jennifer Strickland, who had also contributed the song Going On The Next Train for Carrie’s first project. This new track is a driving, modern bluegrass number, which you can sample below.
Listen now:
Brance and I were very impressed by Hassler and her young band at IBMA last fall, and expect that their sophomore effort, CHHR2, will be every bit as strong as their 2006 debut. Round 2 was produced by Jim Van Cleve, who served in that capacity on the band’s earlier self-titled CD as well.
In addition to Carrie on lead vocals, the band is Keith McKinnon on guitar, Kevin McKinnon on mandolin, Travis Anderson on bass, Josh Miller on banjo, and Jamie Harper on fiddle.
UPDATE 2:35 p.m.: Jim Van Cleve shared a few comments about CHHR2:
“I am really fired up about this project on a number of levels. They came in with some very edgy material, and were completely committed to going all out with their vision on where their music is heading. They are an extremely talented, motivated, and energetic group of musicians, and their creativity is going to knock people out on this new project. It picks up right where the last one left off, and pushes harder and farther than even I expected when we started putting it all together.
They have been hard at work on a new CD, which Audie promises will be chock full of hard-driving, traditional bluegrass music. They are sure to preview it on the show today.
Joining Audie in the band are Evan Ward on banjo, Patrick McAvinue on fiddle, Jason Johnson on mandolin, and Matt Wallace on bass.
The show originates before a live audience from Knoxville, TN, where it airs on 102.9 and 105.9 FM. You can also catch Audie and the guys online via the WDVX streaming broadcast over the Internet.
Knoxville folk/Americana artist Marc Jeffares is also on the bill.
posted by Brance on 05.30.08 @ 9:10 am Tag: James Reams
Until this morning I had never heard of a CokeTag. From what I understand after doing some research, a CokeTag is a widget that runs on your Facebook page, presenting people with a list of links you recommend. The company is working to make the widget compatible with other social networking sites like MySpace, in the near future.
The CokeTag is a product of the Coca-Cola company and really serves as a branding tool for them, since it puts their name in front of the people viewing it. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have any use for a bluegrass band though. Once you’ve created a CokeTag, other people can embed it on their own Facebook page. This allows fans to post a band’s CokeTag on their personal page. And your links spread around the social network that way.
The product is in public beta at this point, but one of the early adopters was the bluegrass band, James Reams & The Barnstormers. Reams put the CokeTag on his facebook page and then discovered that his was being used as an example on the CokeTags homepage.
…it seems that I’m a poster boy for this new product. Coca Cola is using my band (yes, bluegrass, not rock, not hip hop, not jazz but BLUEGRASS) in its worldwide promotional material to show how a band can use this new product, called a CokeTag, on the Internet social networking site Facebook (and, eventually, elsewhere) to allow an easy way to keep friends and fans up to date on what’s going on with the band and what’s important to us.
The neat thing about this is that if I update the information on my CokeTag, it will be updated anywhere that the CokeTag has been posted — initially, just on other Facebook profile pages but eventually on other sites on the Internet as well. So you can link to shows, CDs, videos, etc and then if you change it the next day or the next month, it will be updated everywhere that the CokeTag is posted.
You can see how it looks on a a Facebook band page by visit Reams’ Facebook page. You don’t have to be a member to view the page.
And you don’t have to be a band to find a use for this nifty little widget. You can create one for your hobby and put links to all your favorite bluegrass bands, or whatever you want. There are no guarantees that Coca Cola will notice you though. If they do, your mom is sure to be proud.
So, there I am, featured on Coca Cola’s CokeTag website. My mom is proud because she thinks I’ve finally amounted to something in the music business. Don’t tell her otherwise, ok?
We’ll vouch for ya James, just have her call us if there’s ever any question about your somethingness!
2008 is shaping up to be a nice year for Randy Kohrs. He won a Grammy this year as a producer of Jim Lauderdale’s latest bluegrass recording. In February he was a featured guest with cooking star Rachael Ray. His music video for the single Who’s Goin’ With Me reached #1 on CMTPure’s fan-voted countdown.
Randy, and several members of his band, have performed on the Opry stage before as sidemen with other acts, but this will be Randy’s first appearance fronting his own band.
It is designed like popular social networking sites (MySpace, Face Book) and allows users to post their own photos, news and videos and fosters easy online communication among like-minded flatpickers. Users can also post information about events of interest to flatpickers, or participate in a flatpickers forum.
The site is powered by Ning, a popular engine for creating social networks online, and The Flatpicking Guitar Network already has over 700 registered users.
As a Virginia native, I hold a longstanding appreciation for the commonwealth and its art, culture, people and natural beauty. But I’ll not be surprised or disappointed if people entering this new contest prefer as their prize a new Wayne Henderson guitar over a trip for two to my beloved home state.
The contest to promote The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, is sponsored by Virginia.org, the home of the state’s official tourism office online. Grand Prize winners will receive a new Henderson Crooked Road series guitar, and four First Prize winners get an all expenses paid trip to one of four Virginia tourist destinations.
Entries can be submitted online until June 29, 2008 and with your entry, you’ll be able to download a free copy of the song Down On The Crooked Road, the first single from the new CD, RIPE by The Dixie Bee-Liners.
Short notice, but if you catch this piece in time, you can hear a Doyle Lawson interview this morning (5/29) on WAMU’s BluegrassCountry.org.
Doyle will join host Katy Daley on the phone at 9:00 a.m. to talk about his latest CD, Help Is On The Way, and his upcoming Alaskan cruise.
Katy says that she has another hot topic in mind…
“I’m also going to ask him about the new red bus they’re driving. According to Doyle’s webpage newsletter, they’re thinking about naming her ‘Sadie.’ “
posted by Richard Thompson on 05.28.08 @ 3:25 pm Tag: Bluegrass At Large
OK… so we’re a little late, but we didn’t want to let the month pass without a mention of this notable anniversary.
The concept of May being Bluegrass Music Month is probably buried deep in the mind at the moment, since it has been a part of the bluegrass landscape for several years now. Well, there isn’t any reason why the idea shouldn’t be reviewed and, if need be, the concept re-enforced.
World Wide Bluegrass Music Month [WWBGMM], to give its full name, was a concept presented by bluegrass music enthusiast Bob Wolff during a meeting at the International Bluegrass Music Association [IBMA] World Of Bluegrass [WOB] convention in Owensboro, Kentucky, in September 1987.
The first time in which Bluegrass Music Month was celebrated was May 1988, 20 years ago this month.
Wolff had, at that time (1987), done several years of study and teaching of theatre management and audience development within the industry. One of his tools was the book In Search of an Audience by Bradley G Morrison and Kay Fliehr (1968), New York: Pitman. LCCN 68018783. It focussed on doing research and finding ways to get information to your potential audience. Audience development meant more than doing the same old things - such as placing posters strategically, newspaper advertising and radio. Another source for ideas was Danny Newman’s book Subscribe Now!, the 1977 book which was published by the Theatre Communications Group. The book outlines Newman’s unwavering advocacy for subscription-based ticket sales.
With the selling ideas that these books prompted and the pioneering work of theatre people at places like the Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, audiences could be and were increased. Many of these ideas are now commonplace, of course. (more…)
Colorado’s Spring Creek has another trophy for their mantle. On top of winning the band competitions at both the RockyGrass and Telluride festivals in 2007, they have now been named as the winners of the Vox Populi award from online viewers in the 2007 Independent Music Awards.
Their song, High Up in the Mountains, was chosen in the Americana category in this “people’s choice” component of the annual competition, hosted by Music Resource Group. More than 37,000 votes were cast online, and the band tells us that they were the only bluegrass band in this voting category.
The band consists of Chris Elliott on banjo, Alex Johnstone on fiddle and mandolin, Taylor Sims on guitar and Jessica Smith on bass. All four band members sing.
If you play an instrument other than the upright bass or fiddle, you probably use a strap. If you play upright bass and use a strap, please send me a photo!
My point was that instrument straps are a vital part of the gear used by bluegrass musicians. Why not make a statement with yours? You could be like me and use a plain black leather strap, or you could use something a little more colorfull.
Colorado Case Company has been hand sewing instrument straps for years now and selling them direct at festivals. They’ve now taken the business online with its own website, guitarstrapsonline.com.
Don’t let the name fool you, they have straps for banjo, mandolin, and dobro as well. What is unique about their straps is that they are all hand sewn at their facility in Fort Collings, CO using interesting cloth prints. They don’t keep the same prints in stock at all times so if you don’t see something you like now, keep checking up on them, or take advantage of their custom options.
…we can make a strap out of any fabric you may have, or find in your local fabric store. This means you can take a strip of fabric from a favorite shirt, blanket or jeans, and convert it into a favorite guitar, banjo, mandolin or harp strap.
All straps are normally priced at $24.95 with an additional $5 charge for custom orders.
posted by John on 05.28.08 @ 10:02 am Tag: The Duhks
Fast Paced World is the title of the fourth CD release from Canadian string band adventurists, The Duhks, due August 12 from Sugar Hill Records.
The band has consistently avoided easy labels, with their eclectic mix of styles and influences, though largely staying close to traditional acoustic string band instruments.
Judging by Mighty Storm, the first single released from the album (audio online), their sound is taking a bluesy turn. As Fast Paced World is the band’s first recorded project since they swapped lead vocalists, bringing Sarah Dugas in for Jessee Havey in 2007, one would have expected some changes. In fact, Dugas describes it as a conscious effort.
“We traveled from Winnipeg, locked ourselves in a Nashville basement, pooled our ideas together and invented a new sound.”
It’s likely that Nashville producer Jay Joyce, who made his name writing, recording, performing and producing pop, country and film music, also had a hand in retooling the band’s sonic landscape for the new CD. His credits range far and wide, including producing artists like John Hiatt and John Cowan as well as as the soundtracks for Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days.
In addition to Dugas, the band is composed of Leonard Podolak (banjo), Tania Elizabeth on fiddle and mandolin, Jordan McConnell on guitar, and Christian Dugas (brother of Sarah) on percussion.
Their tour schedule can be found on the band’s MySpace page.
posted by Brance on 05.27.08 @ 11:51 am Tag: Industry News
Two music business think tanks have come together after some research to present a five step plan for saving the industry. Music Ally and The Leading Question teamed up to conduct an 800 person, one year, study in the UK, studying music users acquisition habits. The researchers found a decline in the percentage of users who regularly purchased music, and no decline in music aquisition by those who downloaded from file sharing sites.
[Music fans] might buy a few tracks from iTunes when they get a new iPod for Christmas, but few go on to become regular paying downloaders. The statistics are obviously worrying, but the research does offer clues as to how fans who merely dabble can be encouraged to engage fully with licensed digital music services.
Here are the five steps these two companies are recommending.
1. Music needs to be bundled with other products and entertainment packages: Value can be created from many other ways than consumers simply buying the occasional download. Music needs to move away from per unit sales and become more of a service than a product. It should be pre-loaded into devices, bundled with mobile tariffs, offered as part of TV/Entertainment/ISP packages.
2. Labels needs to experiment with new release schedules and formats: The old model of single and album releases has run its course. Labels needs to be more innovative if they are not to be freezed out altogether. Look at the likes of Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and Prince and experiment with new and varied formats, new pricing models and release schedules, digital only releases and promotional partnerships with brands.
3. Free doesn’t mean no money: The music industry should not fear free. It needs to embrace it. The culture of the net is free or at least feeling free. But money can still be made from other sources: everything from advertising supported services, to brands paying for an association with the artists to newspapers paying for giveaway CDs.
4. Change the charts: The Charts don’t make much sense anymore. Now that fewer and fewer people are buying music the charts need to reflect the other ways that people are consuming music.
5. Trust the DJ: Online means anyone can access or own John Peel’s entire record collection, but the instant and massive availability of music on demand means you need a trusted guide like John Peel more than ever. The new layers of value will come from the social connections that come about through music as much as from the music itself.
Last week, Brance had a wonderful story about Joel Sidney, a recent University of California at Berkeley graduate, whose honors thesis was entitled Innovation and Tradition in Bay Area Bluegrass: Historical Review and Analysis of Distinctive Regional Features.
Here’s another encouraging story about bluegrass on the college campus, this time at UCLA.
Thomas Stanton is a young banjo player, also looking at a June 2008 graduation. He has put together a group, the Bluegrass & Old-Time String Band Ensemble, as an official student band in the Ethnomusicology department where he is pursuing his degree. Stanton has been directing, arranging material, and teaching the group’s members throughout the year as an unofficial senior project, with the blessing of the department.
“The group was just started this school year, in September 2007. I basically reestablished an ensemble in the department because I really wanted to play bluegrass and effectively make use of my talents and knowledge in my senior year as an undergraduate in the Ethnomusicology department at UCLA.
I’ve been very lucky to find all of the musicians that are currently involved in the group: none of them have really played bluegrass before, and a few of them are particularly extraordinary musicians who naturally fit in the setting and are picking up the music and its feel very quickly. I still can’t believe that I was able to create this opportunity to play bluegrass at the University (I would have never thought it possible in my freshmen year), but it’s thanks to the support of my mentor in the department, Professor Anthony Seeger.”
With graduation looming, Thomas will perform in a free concert with the group on the UCLA campus on Thursday, May 29th at 7 PM in Schoenberg Hall.
More details about the group and the concert, including video clips, can be found on their web site.
posted by John on 05.27.08 @ 9:43 am Tags: CMT, Dan Tyminski
The live (in studio) performance by The Dan Tyminski Band on CMT’s Studio 330 Up Close which we mentioned a few weeks back will be aired on CMT Pure starting later this week.
The songs and interview clips from the show can be viewed now online. Dan and his crack band play four songs from his upcoming Rounder release, Wheels (Heads You Win, Tails I Lose, Wheels, How Many Times and Knock, Knock), and he spends several minutes discussing the project and his move from side man to solo artist on camera.
The Tyminski broadcast on CMT Pure will debut on Saturday, May 31, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT), with encore presentations over the course of the following week (all times eastern US).
Saturday, 5/31 - 10:00 a.m.
Sunday, 6/1 - 12:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Monday, 6/2 - 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, 6/3 - 11:00 a.m.
Wednesday, 6/4 - 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, 6/5 - 11:30 p.m.
Friday, 6/6 - 1:00 p.m.
CMT Pure is a sister digital television network to CMT’s primary feed, which offers all-day music videos, as opposed to the broader lifestyle programming on CMT. It is available on most digital packages from cable and satellite providers.
J. D. Crowe and Charlie Cushman join Sonny Osborne, Alan Munde, Ned Luberecki, Bill Evans and Frank Neat to round out the teaching staff for the 8th Annual NashCamp Banjo Retreat, October 17-19th at the Hachland Hills Vineyard in Joelton, Tennessee - about 15 miles north of Nashville.
This event is hosted by noted banjo players Sonny Osborne and Bill Evans, along with Cindy Sinclair. They welcome beginning through advanced bluegrass banjo players for a weekend of small group instruction, jamming for all ability levels, a faculty concert and much more.
Evans shares a few thoughts about NashCamp…
“While folks come to learn banjo, the emphasis is also on making friends, hanging out with your banjo heros, having fun and eating lots of great food. We’ve had young and old attend each year, men and women - people from all parts of the United States and even Japan. I’m especially proud of the fact that we have a great group of women who attend each year - and that number grows with each camp. Sonny has been our guiding light with this event - his positive energy and enthusiasm along with his interest to stay involved with others who love the banjo inspires everyone around him. This camp has a great spirit. This is the camp to attend if you’d like comfortable surroundings, great food and tremendous fellowship in the company of some of the best banjo players and teachers in the world.
And with Sonny and J. D. in one place, who knows what will happen?”
Students are grouped according to ability level - from beginners with one year of playing experience to the most advanced players. Small group instruction is mixed with full group interactive sessions and the Friday night jam features some of the best Nashville musicians sitting in with students. (more…)
WOSU Public Media in Columbus, OH ran a piece yesterday about the bluegrass ensemble at Denison University in Granville, OH.
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OK… so we’re a little late, but we didn’t want to let the month pass without a mention of this notable anniversary.
