Roger Brown, President of the Berklee College of Music, has agreed to deliver the Keynote address at the 2008 Business Conference during the IBMA World Of Bluegrass event this fall. He will speak towards the end of the first day of the Business Conference, which runs from September 29 through October 4 in Nashville.

Brown’s career had spanned the worlds of music, business, non-profits and philanthropy before taking over as president of the Boston-based music school in 2004. He will surely have much wisdom to share with the IBMA attendees, all of whom share Brown’s love of bluegrass music.

Berklee has recently started accepting students who have banjo and mandolin as their primary instruments and allowing them to pursue their degrees focusing on the bluegrass instruments. Even prior to that time, a good number of currently successful acoustic music artists have begun their careers studying at Berklee, including Chris Pandolfi and Andy Hall of The Infamous Stringdusters, and fiddlers Casey Driessen and Nate Leath among many others.

You can read our interview with Roger from last summer on The Bluegrass Blog, and find out more about the World of Bluegrass online.

Bluegrass and folk music icon Doc Watson is undergoing micro-surgery today at Duke Hospital in Durham, NC.

Doc is a beloved fixture of this music and his doctors feel his health is very good for his advanced age of 85. Please remember him in your prayers and picking today as he has this surgery.

Jack Lawrence gives us the details.

There is a very small spot in the center lobe of his right lung that will be removed. It has not spread so the prognosis is very good and no radiation or chemo will be required. The micro-surgery is much less invasive than the standard procedure so he should be out of the hospital about three days afer the procedure. He’s in good spirits, but understandably ready to have it over. His GP told the surgeons that he had an 85 year old man with the body of a 50 year old that needed surgery. Of course, Doc loved that! The surgeons agreed and decided that Doc would come through this just fine.

If anyone wishes to send Doc a card or letter of encouragement, please send them to us at the following address and we will forward them to Doc.

The Bluegrass Blog
P.O. Box 1069
Pulaski, VA 24301

Despite his age, 88 and looking very well too, Curly Seckler continues to be professionally active.

Recently he has appeared on the public TV affiliated Song of the Mountains show, firstly with the Steep Canyon Rangers and then with Larry Sparks.

Song of the Mountains is an hour-long program, hosted by Tim White at the Lincoln Theatre in Marion, Virginia, that airs weekly on over 160 PBS affiliates nationwide. (Check local listings for the air date in your area.)

This coming weekend (June 26 to June 28) Seckler and a number of other bluegrass pioneers, including his long-time friend, Ramblin’ Tommy Scott, will be present as the International Bluegrass Music Museum (located in Owensboro, Kentucky) celebrates the premier of several new oral history documentaries. The film festival will be part of the River of Music Party activities with some events taking place at the Museum itself. Other events take place at the RiverPark Center downtown and at nearby Yellow Creek Park. For a full schedule of events and ticket information, visit their web site.

On Saturday, August 2, Seckler, along with Willis Spears, his old friend, singing partner and Lester Flatt double, will perform at the historic Carter Family Fold, as part of The 34th Annual Carter Family Memorial Festival & Craft Show, Hiltons, Virginia. The duo will perform an afternoon and an evening set. Tentatively scheduled to back them is the fantastic Virginia band, Big Country Bluegrass. The festival commences on the Friday, August 1, and scheduled show times for each day are from 2:00pm through to 11:00pm.

For a full list of the artists performing and ticket information, you may call: 276-386-6054 or by email.

We posted back in April that fiddle master Bobby Hicks had broken the ring finger of his left hand, and had undergone surgery to repair the damage.

Imagining how devastating such an injury could be to a musician, we were delighted to hear this week from Bobby’s daughter, Melissa Holland, that her dad was on the mend, and back to playing while continuing with twice weekly physical therapy.

Melissa says that Bobby taught last week at Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp last week, and did fine, though he still doesn’t feel like he is back in top form.

“I know Dad was worried about how much movement he would get back on that finger. Luckily, he knows how to make accommodations until it’s back at 100%.”

Look for Bobby back on stage doing shows with Earl Scruggs in July.

Tim Carter of The Carter Brothers sent along a couple of photos from the Summer NAMM show, being held in Nashville this weekend.

NAMM (National Association of Music Merchandisers) holds two large trade shows each year, where manufacturers and distributors of products aimed at the music industry display their wares.

Tim visited the show and found himself in a banjo jam at the Nechville booth.

“Banjo’s are blasting in Nashville this weekend for the NAMM Show… Here at the Nechville Banjo booth are Ned Luberecki, myself and Rick Sampson… We gathered a pretty nice crowd for this impromptu jam… I think Nechville sold some banjos after this…”

   

You can find some more coverage of Summer NAMM in The Tennessean, Nashville’s hometown paper.

A number of changes were announced earlier this week regarding the ownership and manufacturing of the ever-so-elusive Calton Cases in North America. These hand-molded fiberglass cases have long been favored by traveling musicians for their ruggedness and superior protection, holding up even when bouncing around in the cargo compartments of airplanes and tour buses.

The company originated in England and has operated under the auspices of founder Keith Calton for more than 35 years. Calton Cases of Canada have had the exclusive rights to manufacture and distribute these heralded cases in North America, but demand has consistently outstripped supply, with wait times running as much as six months.

This past Tuesday (6/17), the company announced that Jim Laffoley, and his newly formed company, Calton Cases (North America), had acquired ownership of all manufacturing assets and the exclusive licensing rights from Calton Cases of Canada. The new company will build a new, expanded manufacturing facility in Moncton, NB in Canada where they will also be based.

Until the new plant is operational, cases will continue to be made in the Calgary, AB facility. The new ownership is hopeful of increasing production substantially once the new plant is up and running.

HT: Mike Bucayu

If you’ve been reading blogs for any amount of time, you’ve probably seen a “Tag Cloud” on one of them. A Tag Cloud takes all the tags used on the blog and generates a visual representation of those tags, more frequently used tags appearing in larger font sizes.

That’s only tags though. This morning I discovered a website called Wordle where you can enter any text you want and it will create something similar for the words you entered. Out of curiosity, I entered the text for the first and second pages of the blog archive, the 40 latest posts. Click the thumbnail to view it full size. This is a wordle, a visual representation of the most frequently used words in our last 40 posts.

If you’ve ever wondered what we post about the most, here’s your answer.

I’ve heard some pretty odd things in my time, but I hope this is merely over the top Hyperbole.

The Detroit News ran an article yesterday about careless and distracted drivers, and the danger they present on the road. They give several real world examples and then give several that just can’t be true, like this one.

Typically, a driver crooning love songs into his cell phone while strumming a banjo also will be weaving, speeding or slogging along too slowly. Assuming his driving is adequate, he might get cited anyway for not keeping one hand on the steering wheel.

With a careless-driving citation, the banjo player “might actually win if he tried to fight it,” McKelvey says. It depends on how a judge interprets the definition, “a careless or negligent manner likely to endanger any person or property.”

Of course he’s being “careless” and “negligent” by strumming a banjo rather than learning a 3-finger roll!

NOTE: Terry Baucom is not in the habit of driving while playing the banjo, but he is in the habit of playing the banjo with drive!

While we’re on this bluegrass/baseball theme, here is the video of Punch Brothers performing Take Me Out To The Ballgame on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight show on June 18 which Brance posted about on Tuesday.

Their take on the song is part of an ESPN effort to mark the 100th anniversary of the song’s debut. Nine popular artists will offer their versions and online fan voting will determine the winner. Other artists involved include jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli, country singer Grethen Wilson and 70s/80s rock icons REO Speedwagon.

The online voting will begin on June 29 with a winner announced on July 13.

The Springer Mountain Farms jingle contest we told you about a while back is in its finale stage. The judges have narrowed the entries down to their favorite ten.

Now it’s your turn to be the judge. Visit the contest website on WSMonline.com, listen to the entries, and cast your vote. Nine of the ten entries are basically bluegrass in nature. Judging by the banjo that chicken is holding, I suspect they anticipate a bluegrass theme to win. Help make that happen by going over and voting for you favorite.

The voting remains open throughout this week. The winner will be announced by WSM disk jockey Bill Cody on Monday, June 23, 2008.

We are delighted to announce the winners in our recent promotional contest, run in cooperation with The Infamous Stringdusters, Sugar Hill Records and Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival.

The first three winners will receive an autographed copy of the band’s latest CD release, The Infamous Stringdusters.

• Peter Griffith - Overland Park, KS
• Kathi M Leniski - Bristol, VA
• Michal Hromcik - Brno, Czech Republic

Our big prize winner is Laura Lander of Bethlehem, KY who receives two free tickets to Grey Fox. She will also have an opportunity to meet the band at the festival next month where she will have VIP seating for the ‘Dusters’ set, and receive a sampling of complimentary band merchandise.

Thanks to Ryan Baker at Sugar Hill for his help, and to everyone who participated in this promotion.

Last Friday, June 13, the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame held a ceremony inducting its charter members. The ceremony took place at the Walker Center on the campus of Wilkes Community College, the home of Merlefest.

The Hall of Fame is located on the second floor of the Wilkes Heritage Museum, housed in a turn of the century (1902) historical courthouse. The exhibit actually opened on May 29, featuring instruments, biographies, and historical recordings. Intending to include both famous musicians, as well as those who have worked behind the scenes to make the music possible, from a geographic area ranging from northern Georgia into northern Virginia, the Hall of Fame inducted the following persons.

• Doc Watson
• Dolly Parton
• Wayne Henderson
• David Johnson (a studio musician and performer from Wilkes County)
• Earl Scruggs

Deceased inductees:

• The Carter Family
• Ralph Epperson (the founder of radio station WPAQ in Mount Airy)
• Tommy Jarrell (an influential banjo player and fiddler from Surry County)
• Folklorist Ralph Rinzler of the Smithsonian Institution
• Sam Love Queen Sr. (known as the Square Dance King of Western North Carolina)

You can see photos and short bios of each inductee at this link.

Art Menius, a longtime fixture at MerleFest and now director of Appalshop, a nonprofit group in Whitesburg, Ky., that documents and celebrates the culture of Appalachia, will be an honorary inductee. He did much of the preliminary work for the hall of fame.

Art is an active member of the online bluegrass community and we congratulate him on this well deserved honor.

The Tennessean is reporting this morning on the terms of a settlement between MTSU and the estate of Bob McLean. As we reported in October of 2007, McLean defrauded investors of millions and then generously spread the money around. Some of that money went to MTSU and this settlement ends that dispute.

What is still uncertain though, is what is to become of Bill Monroe’s mandolin and Mother Maybelle’s guitar. Both instruments are currently in the possession of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The museum acquired the instruments using funds donated for that purpose by McLean.

Since his estate has been forced into an involuntary bankruptcy by the investors’ lawsuit, the instruments could be auctioned to put the money back into the estate for purposes of repayment of those debts.

According to The Tennessean article,

The bankruptcy trustee has filed a lawsuit against the Country Music Hall of Fame to retrieve the music industry donations, but that dispute remains unsettled, according to court filings.

It would sure be nice to see those instruments stay with the museum. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens…

I’ve had many conversations in the past with bands, songwriters, and even label reps about the practice of selling promo copies of CDs. Several of them have expressed frustration concerning the practice.

When a new CD comes out several hundred are usually slated for promotional use and sent to DJs, reviewers, etc. These discs are usually marked by having a hole punch taken to the barcode, and/or a label stating the uses for which the disc is authorized.

Before long, the promo copies start turning up in bins at used CD stores.

It costs money to produce a CD from start to finish. Each individual disc has a cost associated with it. The cost of the promotional discs is a factor, and it must be decided at the outset how heavily you wish to promote the project and the total number of discs you wish to make available for said purpose. There is a cost involved.

When a promo disc ends up being resold, it costs in two ways.

The first is the fact that the artist, label, and songwriter are seeing no revenue from the promo disc, so if someone purchases one instead of a regular CD, these parties all lose that income.

The second cost is in the loss of whatever promotional purpose that CD had been designated for. To be sure, it could have been a review copy and the reviewer could have done their job and then decided to clean out their office by taking all these discs to the used record store. In that case, the promotion was accomplished. But if it was a radio copy that ended up being resold, then the band has lost the promotional aspects of having that CD played on air.

The practice of selling these discs has always been looked upon as somewhat shady by the artists, songwriters, and labels. It was recently approved by a federal judge though, who ruled that such resale activities “are protected under the first sale doctrine.”

By sending the Promo CDs to music industry insiders, UMG transferred title to those insiders and the Promo CDs are subject to the first sale doctrine.

The first sale doctrine allows the purchaser of a copyrighted work to transfer (sell or give away) the copy of the work they purchased without obtaining permission from the copyright holder. If the work was not purchased though, but rather was sent out for promotion, the labels have always felt they retained rights of control on that copy. Promotional CDs we have received here at The Bluegrass Blog have come affixed with stickers to that effect. The labels attach this sticker and consider that a license for use by the recipient, but not title to the disc, which remains the property of the label. US District Court Judge, S. James Otero says otherwise.

UMG mistakes the music industry insider’s actions – keeping the Promo CDs – as accepting the license, when those actions are perfectly consistent with treating the merchandise as a gift. In fact, those music industry insiders whose Promo CDs ultimately ended up in Augusto’s possession affirmatively refuted the license agreement by transferring possession to somebody else, an act prohibited by UMG’s license language.

In essence, what the judge said was that giving away a copy for promotional use has the same effect as selling a copy commercially, insofar as the rights of the copyright holder are concerned.

We still urge you to support the bands, songwriters, and labels who create the music you enjoy, by purchasing a regular commercial copy of the product.

The entertainment press is buzzing this morning with a quote from rap and reality TV star Snoop Dogg, who says he intends to write and record a bluegrass album.

Imagine the crossover potential. Maybe a reality show where Snoop desperately tries to communicate in the studio with bluegrass session players?

On numerous celebrity news sites, the story is reported this way…

He tells OK! magazine, “I went to the CMT Music Awards and I got into the spirit of wanting to do something different!

I’ve been smoking so much green grass I wanted to do a bluegrass album.”

A quick search on the OK! site turned up no results to match this story.

Hmmmm….. Is somebody pulling our leg?

Few bluegrass bands have had the opportunities to perform for important persons that have been enjoyed by the Seldom Scene. Being based in Washington D.C. has obviously helped. But that alone wouldn’t be enough to recommend them for the gigs they’ve had. Their skill and competence as musicians, and their winsome stage manner have been deciding factors as well. Of course, being located in the nation’s capital has helped!

Last week the band had one of those rare opportunities. They were scheduled to perform Tuesday evening at the annual White House Lawn Picnic, to a crowd of around 1,000, including many congressmen and their families. The picnic was scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, but because of inclement weather, the Tuesday activities were called early and Wednesday activities were rescheduled to Thursday. The Band did get a full tour of the White House and a photo op with the President and First Lady.

They were invited to return on Thursday and perform with the Oak Ridge Boys, but had to decline. I’m told they are considering a performance at the White House in September. I wonder if the President has any bluegrass on his iPod?

There will be some bluegrass offered during this week’s big CMA Music Festival and Fan Fair in Nashville.

Though the event officially begins on Thursday (6/5) and runs through Sunday (6/8), there is a kickoff concert tonight (6/4) at 10:00 p.m. hosted by Marty Stuart which will feature sets by The SteelDrivers and Old Crow Medicine Show.

On Thursday there will be a stage dedicated largely to bluegrass music. From 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (local time) the Chevy Plaza stage will include performances by Sierra Hull, SteelDrivers, Dan Tyminski and Mountain Heart.

Jim Van Cleve, fiddle man with Mountain Heart, passed along a few of the public and media events where they will be involved this week.

“We are really excited, and feel very fortunate to be involved with something of this magnitude, especially on so many different levels. CMA Music Festival is a giant affair, and Mountain Heart is going to be a very visible presence there!

We’ll be performing on the Chevy Music Stage, set up just outside the Sommet Center on Broadway, on Thursday afternoon at 2:45. We’ll be doing lots of TV and radio interviews, including XM and several country radio stations. We’re also signing autographs in the GAC and Grand Ole Opry booths in the truTV Fan Fair Hall at the convention center. To start it all off on Wednesday, we’re going to be riding in the Chevy Kickoff Parade that travels right down Broadway. We’ve all been practicing our ‘Princess Waves,’ too, so we should be ready to roll. lol.

From Nashville, we’re heading to Enterprise, Alabama, for the first-ever BamaJam Music & Arts Festival on Saturday. The festival runs Thursday through Saturday and has a ridiculously great lineup of artists from country, bluegrass, acoustic and Americana. We’re talking about everyone from Ralph Stanley and Ricky Skaggs, to Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top and Hank Jr., to Trace Adkins, Little Big Town, Yonder Mountain String Band and Old Crow Medicine Show. It’s going to be a blast!”

As was presaged here in late March, Handleman Corp - a major distributor of recorded music to retailers - has announced that they will cease the music portion of their business activities.

The Detroit News has reported that Handleman will liquidate inventory and operating assets in their music division over the next few months, and it will be completely gone by the end of next year. Bluegrass labels had found a willing partner in Handleman in recent years, and many saw their product carried in Wal-Mart stores across the US as a result.

From The Detroit News:

“Our decision to exit the North American music business was difficult but unavoidable,” said [Handleman’s president and chief executive Al] Koch. “CD music sales have been declining at double-digit rates for several years both industrywide and at our customers’ stores, resulting in a sharp drop-off in our business. Unfortunately, even the significant steps we’ve taken over the past two years to reduce our costs have not enabled the Company to return to profitability.

“We have reluctantly concluded that there simply were not enough further cost reduction opportunities available to offset the margin erosion in future years from continuing sales declines.”

Handleman said it has agreed to sell its music inventory and some assets connected with its Wal-Mart business to Anderson Merchandisers, L.P. of Amarillo, Texas. Sales to Wal-Mart are the bulk of Handleman’s U.S. music sales, the company said.

You can read more about the company and their decision to pull out of music distribution in The Detroit News here and here.

WOSU Public Media in Columbus, OH ran a piece yesterday about the bluegrass ensemble at Denison University in Granville, OH.

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.

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…)