Cody Shuler recently announced that effect October 18, 2008, Dale Perry has joined Pine Mountain Railroad. Dale will be playing the 5 and singing harmony vocals.

Dale’s bass singin as been a distinguishing marks of the bands he’s performed with in the past, including the Lonesome River Band, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and David Parmely & Continental Divide.

Dale has periodically taken time off the road between bands to run his Lakeside Recording Studio, even recording the last Pine Mountain Railroad CD. I asked Cody Shuler to share with us the story of how Dale came to join the band.

I am glad to have Dale Perry be a part of this band. His vocal work along with his great banjo playing brings some great new sounds from this band. We have been working on some great quartets that feature some of his great bass singing. Dale recorded our latest cd “Pickin’ Praisin’ & Singin’ at his Lakeside Studio in Moneta, VA. He will also be recording a cd we are currently working on as well. Dale has played with some great groups through the years, The Bluegrass Cardinals, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and David Parmley. I am very excited to have him join CS & PMR.

Be sure to keep an eye on PMR’s tour schedule and go hear them with Dale Perry in the band.

Rounder Records has announced January 13, 2009 as the release date for the next CD project from songstress Alecia Nugent. Like her two previous albums, Hillbilly Goddess is a showcase for Nugent’s vocal chops, and features some of the most dynamic studio musicians available in the bluegrass world.

The new CD was produced by Carl Jackson, who also contributes several of his songs, and features Tim Stafford and Andy Falco on guitar,Adam Steffey on mandolin, Andy Leftwich on fiddle, Rob Ickes on resonator guitar, JD Crowe and Thomas Wywrot on banjo, Kevin Grant on bass, and Tony Creasman on drums.

In addition to Jackson, new songs come from Tim Stafford and Craig Market, Tim O’Brien, Jerry Salley, Larry Cordle and Nugent herself. Backing vocalists include Jackson, Sonya Isaacs, Bradley Walker, Jennifer Strickland and Valerie Storey.

We had a chance to discuss the new CD with Alecia earlier this week, and couldn’t resist asking about the title track.

“The term ‘Hillbilly Goddess’ was a label given to me by reviewer Robert K. Oermann when he reviewed my A Little Girl‚ĶA Big Four-Lane CD. I  always thought it was cute, but certainly never thought of myself as a ‘goddess’‚Ķ maybe hillbilly, but not that!

My management had encouraged me to write something for the new CD and thought this was a natural song title. My producer, Carl Jackson, Sonya Kelly and I got together and came up with this song. It refers to every man looking at his special someone as his own ‘hillbilly goddess.’

The song has a very traditional feel, and JD Crowe was kind enough to come in and play banjo on it.  He did an awesome job!”

The CD also includes an autobiographical song, Nugent Family Band. (more…)

IBMA is now soliciting applications for Leadership Bluegrass 2009, their 3-day networking and mentoring event held in Nashville each spring.

The 2009 class is scheduled for March 10-12 and applications must be received by November 15.

We have never attended, but have heard nothing but glowing feedback from the many people in the bluegrass industry who have. IBMA describes the class as follows:

Leadership Bluegrass is an IBMA-sponsored annual program designed to build commitment, motivate talents and instill enthusiasm for addressing the future of the bluegrass music industry.  The purpose is to bring together a cross-section of people with exhibited or potential leadership qualities into a network of learning and communication. Class members represent current and future leaders from various facets of the industry, as well as diverse regions of the country and world.

The fee for the event is $250 for IBMA members and $325 for non-members. Participants must shoulder the travel and accomodation costs, but some scholarship assistance is available on the basis of need.

You can find more details and application information at ibma.org. 

Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent will be guests on this week’s edition of Edge Of Country on GAC TV.

The guys join host Bill Cody for an interview about their success at the IBMA Awards show, along with winners from the recent Americana Music Association Honors and Awards winners.

The show airs at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 31 and twice again in early December.