Banjos in orbit
Alison Brown is among several banjoists whose playing has been described as “out of this world” – but she may be among the very few who can prove it.
When space shuttle Atlantis took off last week to perform delicate repairs on the Hubble telescope, Alison’s new CD The Company You Keep was along for the ride. She counts at least two NASA astronauts among her fans. Marsha Ivins was responsible for turning Atlantis Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld on to her music, and it was he who brought the CD along for his down time in outer space.
This marks the fourth time that Brown’s music has been involved in a space shuttle mission, with three tracks from her previous releases having been used for wake up calls on earlier shuttle flights.
The CD contains ten tracks, of which 9 are her compositions. Alison is featured on banjo along with her band – Garry West on bass, John R. Burr on piano, Larry Atamanuik on drums and Joe Craven on madolin and fiddle – plus guest artists John Doyle (guitar), Stuart Duncan (fiddle ), and Kenny Malone (drums).
Audio samples can be found online.
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The new CD from banjoist Alison Brown, The Company You Keep, will be released April 7 on Compass Records.
The album features her quartet: John Burr on piano, Garry West on bass, Joe Craven on mandolin and fiddle and Larry Atamanuik on drums. Additional guest artists include John Doyle on guitar, Stuart...
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Tune...
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Compass Records, the Nashville based label run by banjo player Alison Brown, has recently redesigned their website and is now offering one track each week as a free mp3 download.
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Compass Records has signed The Gibson Brothers, and plan to release the band's next CD during Spring 2009.
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If you're a fan of the duet between Alison Krauss and John Waite, you will want to tune in to GAC Nights this evening at 8 PM EST. Host Suzanne Alexander will be interviewing the two artists and discussing their current duet Missing You, among other things.
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