Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer have recently launched their first podcast, Cathy & Marcy’s Song Shop. The target audience is kids, or families with kids. The podcast is intended to be a sing-along, play-along, laugh-along adventure for kids.
The first episode was entitled It’s Better When We Sing It Together and the second episode is It’s a Shame. Each podcast features a song by the same title and the children are encouraged to participate and sing along. The videos are taped with a live audience so there is on screen participation as well.
If you have you children and they are into music at all, this may be something you’ll want to check out. Cathy & Marcy tell me they are planning other Folk and Bluegrass podcasts in the future, so we’ll be watching for that.
Both of the existing episodes, along with all future ones, can be watched online. You can also subscribe to the feed from the same page to have the podcasts delivered via iTunes or whichever podcatcher you prefer.
Acoustic guitar Maharishi Larry Keel, along with his band Natural Bridge, will be making an appearance on WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour on Monday, November 12, 2007.
If you’ve ever seen Keel and band in concert you know what kind of energy you’re in store for. If you haven’t seem them live, you should make a point of catching this show. It’s coming to a radio and computer near you.
The show is broadcast from The Kentucky Theatre in Lexington, KY. The show starts at 6:45 PM EST, and is broadcast to 900,000 listeners on over 400 radio stations, including a number of international stations, and now XM Radio Channel 15.
In addition to the radio broadcast, the show can also be heard, and seen, online. The WoodSongs Webcast is a multi-camera weekly broadcast made available online as a streaming cybercast, and also as a downloadable podcast. Join the fun at 7 PM to watch the 60 minute show live as it happens, then stay tuned at 8:05 PM for the encore performance. The encore is not broadcast on radio due to time restraints.
The webcast happens live and the show is made available as a podcast soon after the show date. Visit this page for more information about the WoodSongs Podcast.
If you’d like to be part of the studio audience, the ticket cost is $10. More information is available here.
Ronnie McCoury recently held a bluegrass luau and picking party in Nashville. The party guests included a who’s who of Nashville bluegrass stars. Our friend Wichita Rutherford, the podcasting superstar, was on hand with a video camera.
He’s uploaded the video as a podcast and is running a contest with it. Go watch the video and count the bluegrass stars. Then be the first to leave him a comment with the correct number and you’ll win a spiffy prize. And if you don’t win, he’s still going to give away about 50 other prizes randomly to people who try hard.
I watched it twice and still lost count, I suggest you have a sharp pencil and pad ready!
posted by Brance on 12.20.06 @ 10:29 am Tag: GrassCast
With the holidays quickly approaching John and I have decided to forgo further podcasts until after the first of year. The interviews are a great deal of work and with both of us traveling for Christmas with our families it seemed like a good time for a break.
We would like to hear from our readers/listeners though. Tell us know what you think of the GrassCast. Let us hear from you if you enjoy it and what you like about it. If you are a regular, or semi-regular, reader and don’t listen to the GrassCast please let us hear from you as well. We’re curious as to why you don’t listen and what we could do differently to encourage you to do so.
I’ve been watching the latest round of campaign ads by the candidates that are running for Mayor of Bluegrass and I’ve got a couple comments.
First of all Trent Dobbins. This guy is an importer of organic salmon? He’s pretty scary looking if you ask me. I wouldn’t eat anything this guy tried to sell me! And is it just me, or does he sound a little bit like Ernest T. Bass? You can watch his two campaign ads here and here.
Now about Wichita. His ads are well done as expected. He is, after all, a podcasting superstar and has some experience being in front of the camera what with the Van Heffer thing and all. My only question is this, who is the announcer in those ads? It almost sounds like the guy that does the voice over at the beginning of the western Tombstone. I don’t think it is, but his voice is similar and very impressive sounding. You can see his ads here and here.
I’m going to have to come out in support of Wichita in this election. If you are still on the fence be sure to listen to the Lester Flatt interview I mentioned earlier, it might change your mind.
As strange as it may sound, Wichita Rutherford has a podcast up over at his blog that features an interview with Lester Flatt. I won’t go into detail explaining how he got the chance to do the interview, but let’s just say Wichita may have had a bigger hand in shaping bluegrass music than we previously realized!
This week on The GrassCast we continue our theme of interviewing members of the new band Grasstowne. Last week we interviewed Phil Leadbetter. This week John interviews Alan Bibey. Alan has been fronting the band Blueridge for the last 6 years or so. He now leaves that band to join Phil and Steve Gulley to form Grasstowne.
Alan discusses with John why he made this decision. This interview was recorded Wednesday afternoon Dec 6th, less than a week after the announcement of Grasstowne.
This week on The GrassCast our guest if award winning dobro player Phil Leadbetter. Phil has been in the news lately because of the formation of a new band of which he’s a part, Grasstowne (read about it here).This interview was recorded Wednesday morning Dec 6th, less than a week after the announcement of Grasstowne. Phil discusses the new band, why he’s excited about it, and why he felt it was time for him to make a change musically.
Phil spends some time talking about the musical direction the new band will be taking, and why. It’s an interesting discussion that should be of interest to fans of Phil, Steve Gulley, or Alan Bibey.
Next week’s episode will feature an interview with Alan Bibey concerning his decision to join Phil in this new undertaking.
This week on The GrassCast we continue our interview with bluegrass legend Paul Williams. Last week we took a look at Paul’s background in the music business, how he got started, and left the discussion after listening to a song he had written and performed on a live DVD production.
Part 2 of the interview continues this week as Paul discusses one of his most popular tunes, My Walkin’ Shoes Don’t Fit Me Anymore, and then goes on to tell us about a new song he has written that has been recorded on a recent Marty Raybon release. We’ve included a verse and chorus of Marty singing the song.
Paul then goes on to talk about his DVD release and his plans for the future. This is the conclusion to a great interview, be sure to listen to both parts.
Our guest this week on The GrassCast is bluegrass legend Paul Williams. Paul has a historic career in bluegrass. He’s well known for his singing but many fans may not be aware of his contributions to the music through songwriting. During the interview Paul talks about songs he wrote and then cut with Jimmy Martin. He also talks about the process of writing songs and how he got started writing bluegrass songs.
The interview is a long one so we’ve decided to split it in two. This week is part one and focuses on Paul’s history and how he got started as a songwriter. Next week we’ll continue it and see how Paul is continuing to be a vibrant songwriter who still gets cuts, while at the same time fronting his own band.
This week’s guest on The GrassCast is Tim Shelton of NewFound Road. Their latest CD, Life In A Song, was released the end of September 2006. Tim and John discuss the CD and preview several of the tunes including one written by Tim Stafford and another by Tom T. Hall.
Tim also introduces each of the band members and discusses their role in the band.
Another topic of interest to some listeners, will be their discussion of how NFR got signed to Rounder Records, and the benefits they’ve seen from being on the label. All aspiring bluegrass bands hoping for a record deal should give this a listen.
This week’s guest on The GrassCast is mandolin legend and Grand Ole Opry star, Jesse McReynolds. Jesse has a new CD out titled Dixie Road. He had a copy with him at IBMA and we sat and talked about the recording. In the interview we preview 4 tracks from the disc, talk about the players on the disc, and touch a bit on songwriting.
In addition to the new CD, Jesse also talks about his history in bluegrass music. He tells us how he came up with the crosspicking mandolin style he’s known for, and explains what it was like in the early years of bluegrass playing and singing with his brother Jim McReynolds. He also discusses the changes in recording technology and how that has affected the music.
This is a great interview with a true bluegrass pioneer. Don’t miss it!
Our guest on this episode of The GrassCast is Claire Lynch. In the interview John and Claire discuss her history in bluegrass music, talk about her band members, and discuss her newest CD, New Day. The discussion leads to previewing three of the tracks off the CD, one of which was written by Claire. The conversation turns to songwriting and what makes a good song in her opinion.
Those of you who enjoy Claire’s music should find this interview intersting. If you’ve never heard Claire before, this is a good chance to preview her music and see what you think.
If you’ve been following Wichita Rutherford’s video podcasts lately, you know that Wichita’s last attempt to impersonate Ricky Skaggs was met with disapproval by his card playing buddies from Three Ring Circle. He said he was done trying and there would be no more videos, but now he’s making one last attempt. He just couldn’t help himself. I guess he wanted to succeed as badly as I wanted him to. Visit his blog to watch it and be sure to let him know how you think he did. Sometimes those guys he plays cards with can be a little over critical.
This episode of The GrassCast features an interview with Michael Cleveland. Michael was nominated for several awards at the recent IBMA and won two of them. The interview was recorded before the awards show so he didn’t know he was going to win. He did win Fiddle Player of the Year for the fourth time and also won Instrumental Album of the Year for his most recent CD, Let ‘Er Go Boys.
Michael and I discuss the awards nominations, the Flamekeeper band, Michael’s history with the fiddle and learning bluegrass. Michael also engages in a very interesting discussion of learning to play tastefully. It’s great stuff and should be of interest to any aspiring fiddle players or Michael Cleveland fans.
Michael also makes mention of the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend coming up in November where he’ll be serving as a fiddle instructor.
That’s the question that’s answered in the final installment of Wichita Rutherford’s IBMA video clips. It’s one of Wichita’s great True or Rumor podcasts. If you just can’t stay out the personal life of a bluegrass celebrity and have to know what Alison called her grandmothers, then you’d better click over to Wichita’s Blog, watch the video, and find out the truth from Alison herself.
Sadly, Wichita is saying this is the last of the video clips in the series. That saddens me because I was cheering him on in his Ricky Skaggs impression and really wanted to see him nail it. I just know he can do it.
To watch him try, and fail, a couple times you might want to watch those clips as well while you’re on his blog.
This episode of The GrassCast features an interview with Frank Solivan II. Frank plays in the Navy band Country Current. He performs on mandolin and fiddle when the band is doing bluegrass and also plays electric guitar in the country version of the band. In the interview Frank and I discuss the Navy band, what their mission is, what is it was like to audition for the band, and the bluegrass component of what the band does.
In addition to playing in the Navy band, Frank also has two solo CDs out. The latest one, Selfish Tears, came out late this summer. Frank and I talk about the CD and specificially we discuss, and preview, three of the songs on the disc. We also brush on Franks other obsession, cooking. Check out the photos in the enhanced version of the podcast (see iTunes link below), I’m gonna have to eat dinner at his place one of these days!
I posted last week about a video that our pal Wichita Rutherford put up as a podcast (and in his blog). The video was recorded for and played at IBMA last month. In the video Wichita is playing cards with the guys from Three Ring Circle and tries out his Ricky Skaggs impression on them. It was bit to “Kraussy” so the guys said. Well here is a new video in which Wichita makes another attempt at imitating Skaggs. Watch it and see what you think.
John visits with Dale Ann Bradley in this episode of The GrassCast. John and Dale Ann discuss her new CD Catch Tomorrow, and specifically talk about about several of the tunes. They also trace Dale Ann’s carreer in bluegrass music, talk about her band members both past and present, women in bluegrass, and what’s in store for the future.
The GrassCast is configured to be delivered in a variety of formats. You can listen right now within this window, subscribe for free via Apple’s iTunes Music Store to receive each new episode as it is published, or download the file to your computer to listen at your convenience. All those instructions and link can be found below.
This episode is 24 minutes in length, with a download size of 23 MB (for the MP3 file).
Just click the Listen now link below to hear the interview now. The GrassCast available through the iTunes music store is an enhanced podcast containing photos and hyperlinks relative to the subject matter being discussed in the interview.
*NOTE: If you are using IE you will need to click the player below once to activate it, and a second time to start it playing. It may take a few moments for the audio to begin. If you are using a standards compliant browser such as Firefox you should be fine.*
To subscribe with your own podcatching software, copy and past this url into the appropriate entry box in your software: http://www.thegrasscast.com/rss
Barry Abernathy will be the featured guest today on The Story with Dick Gordon, aired on WUNC (North Carolina Public Radio). Barry is the banjo player with Mountain Heart, and performed previously with both Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and IIIrd Tyme Out.
You would never know it from hearing his music, but Barry had much to overcome in establishing a career as a professional musician. He was born with a deformity of his left hand, and has no fingers - only a thumb and several partial digits. Barry cultivated a fascination with the banjo at a young age, and developed a technique that was within his reach, playing over the top of the neck rather than wrapping the hand around from below. He uses his thumb and the knuckles of his partial fingers to fret the notes, modifying common fingerings and chord shapes allow him to play effective and authentic bluegrass style banjo.
There is much to admire about Barry, and succeeding against great odds is only one thing among many. His tone, command of time, meticulous execution and impeccable sense of appropriateness set him apart as a banjo player without regard to his physical challenges. On top of that, he has consistently refused to trade on his handicap, resisting the “show biz” urge to portray himself primarily in that fashion.
Even more admirably, when he does address it publicly or on stage, it is with humor and a great comfort with his situation. A running joke that involves my company, AcuTab Publications, is always a hit with audiences when he tells it on stage. Barry will mention how other prominent banjo players have had transcription books of their solos published by AcuTab, and then suggest that he has one called “AcuNub,” with every page showing a one finger bar chord diagram.
The interview with Gordon for The Story centers on Barry’s learning to play without fingers. It can be heard today, September 22, at both 1:00 and 8:00 p.m. on WUNC. The station can be heard on 91.5 in central NC, and is streamed live online.
The Story also maintains a show archive, or you can subscribe to receive their podcasts if you miss the show live.
Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer have recently launched their first podcast, Cathy & Marcy’s Song Shop. The target audience is kids, or families with kids. The podcast is intended to be a sing-along, play-along, laugh-along adventure for kids.
Email This Post
| Print | Top | Comment
As strange as it may sound, 
John visits with 
