This morning (11/13), Buddy Woodward of Dixie Bee-Liners will be with Carol Beaugard on WFDU. They will talk about the new Bee-Liners CD, Susanville, and The American Revival Tour they are currently working along with Sierra Hull and Uncle Earl.

WFDU broadcasts at 89.1 FM in NYC, and online via live streaming at www.wfdu.fm. The show, Lonesome Pine RFD, airs from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon (EST), and Buddy’s interview will air at 11:00. If you miss it live, look in the audio archives where it will reside for the next two weeks.

Carol also mentioned a show she did yesterday with Ned Luberecki, who broadcasts for Bluegrass Junction, the all-bluegrass channel for Sirius-XM. It can also be accessed in the archives.

“We spoke of his early work with the Paul Adkins Band. He updated us on Paul – who apparently worked for a while as a golf pro and then designing kitchens. Ned emailed him very recently and learned that Paul is back to playing music with a few gigs around the Maryland area and we both commented how wonderful it would be to see Paul back in performance.

Ned spoke at length about his work as a broadcaster on Sirius and credited his bandleader, Chris Jones for first recommending him to Sirius launching a new career so ‘he could support his banjo habit.’  We also played a couple of tracks that Ned co-wrote on the new album for Chris Jones and the Nightdrivers’ Cloud of Dust.

We also discussed his work producing the IBMA Awards show with Cindy Baucom at the Ryman Auditorium, as well as what an honor it was to broadcast the Awards Show this past year, in the same booth where Eddie Stubbs and other broadcast legends have stood.”

At noon, April Verch and her band will perform live on Blue Plate Special, broadcast on WDVX from Knoxville. We reviewed her terrfic new CD, Steal The Blue, earlier this year.

You can catch the show over the air at 102.9 in and around Knoxville, or online at WDVX.com.

Later this evening, you can hear Ricky Skaggs, The Whites and Mike Snider on The Grand Ole Opry. Of course, The Opry is carried live on WSM from Nashville, which is also simulcast live online. The show airs from 8:00-10:00 p.m. on Friday nights.

Then after Saturday’s (11/14) Opry (where The Whites and Jesse McReynolds will perform), bluegrass legend Curly Seckler will make a rare live appearance on The Ernest Tubb Midnite Jamboree from The Texas Troubadour Theater in Nashville, also broadcast on WSM.

Jesse McReynolds will host the Tubb show, and Curly is expected to sing a couple of songs with The Virginia Boys, and probably at least one with Jesse.

It is always a treat to hear Curly sing, who did as much as anyone to define bluegrass tenor singing during his tenure with both Flatt & Scruggs and Lester Flatt & The Nashville Grass.

His guest this week on The Grand Old Time Machine is none other than Ricky Skaggs himself. The entire hour long show is a conversation with Ricky concerning his latest CD, Songs My Dad Loved.

This interview is unlike any other you’ve heard Wichita do. In fact, it’s unlike any you’ve heard Ricky do! Over the course of an hour you’ll get to hear all 13 of the tracks from the CD, and you’ll hear Ricky talk about the tunes, his childhood, growing up in rural Kentucky and learning to play bluegrass. He really opens up and shares his heart in this interview.

It’s a riveting discussion that gives you a picture into Ricky’s past, and his thinking about the music. I’m sure the story will resonate with many who grew up in similar circumstances.

Here’s a short clip to give you a taste of what the interview is like throughout.

If you want to hear the whole thing, you’ll have to tune in to SiriusXM radio channel 14(XM), channel 65(Sirius). Below are the show times.

Friday the 6th – 9 pm eastern
Saturday night the 7th – 12 midnight
Tuesday the 10th – 3 pm eastern

Brown has never limited herself to a single type of music. As banjo player with Alison Krauss & Union Station in the late 1980s, she showed that she had a distinctive voice on her instrument, and much of her music since has focused on melodic, jazz and jazz-inflected original compositions.

The band includes her husband Garry West on bass, John Burr on piano, and Larry Atamanuik on drums.

Their complete 27 minute set can be streamed online.

If you live within WSM’s very wide broadcast footprint, you can hear the show on 650-AM. If not, it will also be streamed live online from 7:00-9:00 p.m. The format brings four bands to the stage, emceed by Jim Lauderdale and Eddie Stubbs, with artist interviews conducted live by Craig Havighurst.

The Grascals have been enjoying their richly-deserved time in the spotlight this past few years. With a trio of critically-acclaimed albums and multiple IBMA awards, these guys (and gal) have been burning up the highway, keeping a very busy tour schedule.

Less well known (for now) is The Josh Williams Band. Regular readers of The Bluegrass Blog have seen our occasional mentions of Williams, a very talented, young artist who, at the age of 29, has already had the eye of the IBMA on him for 16 years. At age 13, he was singled out to be included in a group of Youth All Stars at the IBMA show, along with Chris Thile, Michael Cleveland, Cody Kilby and Brady Stogdill. Here he is in that illustrious company – on banjo – which foretold much of what we have seen from these fine pickers since that day.

Josh had memorable stints with Special Consensus and Rhonda Vincent in his late teens and early twenties, and has now struck out on his own. His third solo project will be released by Pinecastle in February, and The Josh Williams Band will soon begin recording their debut CD.

They had a very strong showing at IBMA 2009, and we spoke with Jim Roe of Roe Entertainment, who books Josh, about the impact of their high profile during World Of Bluegrass.

“Their main stage showcase went really, really well. They played a number of late night showcases in 2008, and I heard from several people that the band sounded much more mature this year, and that Josh looked really confident fronting his band.”

When we caught them at IBMA, the band consisted of Josh on guitar and lead vocals, Jason McKendree on banjo, Randy Barnes on bass and Scott Napier on mandolin. Greg Blaylock is often seen with them on resonator guitar, though not a regular member of the group. I also saw them in 2008, and can agree that this past year has seen Josh develop into a future star in bluegrass music.

Roe related another story about this very subject…

“A festival promoter that had the band for a show early in 2009 called me after the festival, and shared with me how much he enjoyed their performance, but pointed out a few areas where he thought they could improve. After seeing them at IBMA last month, he has decided to have them back next year.

With a full year as a front man under his belt, Josh is a lot more comfortable in his new role.”

Josh is excited about playing Music City Roots tonight. In addition to Josh and The Grascals, the show will also include music from James Intveld and Shawn Byrne.

Not to be outdone by NewFound Road and the folks on the American Revival Tour, Josh sent along a few Halloween photos of his own, taken at their Saturday show at The Station Inn. Josh’s dad, Tony Williams, also provided a play-by-play…

The Halloween Hoot from the world famous Station Inn, in Nashville, Tennessee, night before last(October 31, 2009 proved to be a blast, as expected!

The evening’s edition of the Josh Williams Band included from stage left to stage right: Resophonic guitar genius, Willie P. Richardson, (aka Greg Blaylock, the pride of Dickson, TN.) former President, and banjoist extraordinaire, Abraham Lincoln (aka Jason “Jaymack” McKendree), one of history’s finest guitar players and lead singers, Wyatt Earp (aka Josh Williams), the always bloodthirsty, King of blood-suckers, and the acoustic upright bass, “The Count” Vlad Randolph Barnes (aka Randy Barnes), and with guest mandolinist, and traveler of the high seas, Long John Frank, (aka Ashby Frank).

The house was packed with guests from Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Florida, and no doubt more, to hear this good-looking and picturesque Rogue’s gallery, who kept the crowd entertained through two excellent sets of the finest quality Bluegrass and Americana music for a little over two and one half hours. Excellent audio engineer and legendary Lonesome River Band producer and engineer, Tim Austin, did an outstanding job on the sound board, keeping the incredible band well heard, and noise free for the entire length of the show.

In the audience, along with many people in street attire, one could observe, Raggedy Andy, several vampires, zombies, and a trio of folks with horns protruding from the heads. The staff at the Inn included beautiful Swiss misses Emily and Jess. Two separate groups of young ladies added international presence, good friends of First Lady, Amelia Aerheart-Lincoln (Carolyn Klassen McKendree) attending as part of a visit with their friend, all from the Canadian province of Manitoba, in and around the town of Winkler, Carolyn’s home-town. Another group of lovely young Japanese ladies were attending, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy all the band members, and their very entertaining show.

All in all, I’d say this was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen at the Station Inn, in the twenty-odd years I’ve been attending performances there.

Lonesome Pine RFD runs from 9:00 a.m. ’till noon (EDT), and the lengthy McEuen interview is set to air at 11:00. WFDU can be heard in NYC and surrounding areas at 89.1 FM, and worldwide via live streaming online.

Carol offers a preview…

“John takes us through the new CD by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Speed Of Life, song-by-song.

Throughout the hour there’s plenty of history shared on the early days of NGDB and John’s solo career.  He also talked about his friendship with Steve Martin since Steve was a teenager, and their work together on The Crow.”

The show will also be available for two weeks in the station’s audio archives after it airs, and will be rebroadcast on Monday (11/2) at 12:00 a.m. on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country.

First off, he mentioned that their next CD is finished, and is being mastered next week. Zack wasn’t sure whether they would be releasing it with a label, or on their own, but does expect to see it hit in February of 2010.

He was also psyched about the band recently being featured on the NPR wordplay program, Says You!, taped August 22 in the Polk Theatre at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in downtown Nashville. They performed incidental music used during the show.

“It is a hilarious show, and we had a blast providing the music. We recorded two episodes, one of which has already aired (available for download purchase), and we expect the next one to air this weekend.”

Says You! airs at different times on their many radio affiliates, and you can check when it airs in your market online.

Zack also wanted to introduce their latest member…

“Christian Sedelmyer joined us on fiddle back in July. He replaced our former banjo player, Trevor Brandt. The transition was very smooth, and the fiddle really adds a new energy to our music.

He started playing violin when he was five years old using the Suzuki method, and he has a fantastic ear and understanding of music.  Christian’s background and approach to music is similar to ours, so he fit right in from day one. He is also a very able harmony singer, which is a big part of being a Drifter.  We are so glad to have him in the band.”

You can keep an eye on The Farewell Drifters’ tour schedule on their web site.

He’ll be on the second episode of Music City Roots, a new live concert venture broadcast each Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. (CDT) from The Loveless Barn, just outside of Nashville. Eddie Stubbs and Jim Lauderdale co-host, with live artist interviews conducted by Craig Havighurst each week.

Mike Farris and Miss Tess and The Bon Ton Parade will also be on tonight’s show. It will air from 7:00-9:00 p.m. on WSM AM-650 in the Nashville market, and online via live streaming.

The series launched last week with a performance from Emmylou Harris, and many of the upcoming episodes will feature bluegrass or grassy artists.

• 11/4 – Josh Williams and John Cowan
• 11/25 – John Cowan
• 12/2 – Dale Ann Bradley
• 12/9 – Donna Ulisse and Emmit-Nershi Band
• 12/16 – Cherryholmes, Mountain Heart and Nashville Mandolin Ensemble

WSM is also recording the shows and will make them available on their web site for on demand streaming.

Catch Sam tonight at 7:00, or check out samples from Circles Around Me at sambush.com.

Darren said that both he and Mark grew up with WAMU’s bluegrass programming, and spent countless hours listening to Katy, Gary Henderson, Lee Micheal Demsey and Ray Davis when they were learning to play.

“Mark and I are really excited about the opportunity to sit down with Katy and help do the work that needs to be done to keep bluegrass alive and kickin’. For us to be able to be in the studio, for an institution that’s meant so much to us and bluegrass music over the years, is a real treat.

I remember as a kid when they would be doing the membership drives… WAMU would do what they called a winter bluegrass festival, and it was wonderful stuff from all Gospel, to trivia, to live shows. It was a great time, and Mark and I are very honored to play a part this year.”

WAMU’s Bluegrass Country broadcasts 24/7 live online, and like many public radio (and television) outlets, dedicates some time each year to fundraising. This is their time for 2009, and they invite anyone who enjoys their free bluegrass programming to consider making a donation. As they say on their site…

It costs about $450,000 a year to run WAMU’s Bluegrass Country. We pay for music streaming, features, additions to our library, and acquisition of outstanding programs.

Katy mentioned that they have also been thankful for on-air help from Eric Gibson, Alan Munde, Kevin Church and Paul Williams during this campaign. Eddie Dean, Ralph Stanley’s co-writer on Man of Constant Sorrow: My Life and Times, will be on with Lee Michael Demsey on Thursday (10/22), and Mark Schatz is scheduled for Friday (10/23).

We recognize how tedious it can be to listen to fund drives, but think for a moment about the poor on-air personalities who have to do the begging. If you can help, be assured that it will greatly appreciated.

And not just WAMU’s Bluegrass Country! We encourage our readers to consider supporting any and all broadcasters who keep bluegrass on the air. Make donations if you can to public radio, and mention bluegrass shows when you patronize the advertisers of commercial shows and  stations.

You’ll have a chance to hear them this weekend though, live on The Wheeling Jamboree Saturday night (10/17). The long-running show airs from Wheeling, WV on Saturday nights and can be heard – and seen – online.

Darrell is a West Virginia boy, and is understandably stoked about getting to play the show.

“I’m very excited about playing the Jamboree this weekend. This is our first time performing here, and I know that a lot of big country music legends have played on this stage.”

The broadcast starts at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday night (EDT), but the featured artists generally don’t go on until 8:00 p.m. It can be heard on a number of radio affiliates in West Virginia and the Ohio Valley, via live audio streaming, and even with a live video stream.

The Darrell Web Band features Matt Leadbetter on resonator guitar, Owen Piatt on banjo, Asa Gravely on guitar and Webb on mandolin and lead vocals.

Carol spoke with Claire about her latest Rounder CD, Whatcha Gonna Do, which was released on September 15. They will also play some tracks from the new album during the show.

Here is a brief sample of Claire’s remarks from the interview…

“This truly is a quantum leap for the band. We wanted the album to reflect a very pared down, ‘band’ sound and it gives each of the members a chance to really shine. Our sound is broader. The Americana market is really established now and the album fits a wide range of tastes and we’ve been so delighted with the response we’re getting. The album appeals to so many different audiences – people that love bluegrass, country and folk music and that’s so gratifying. As artists we want to play to as many people as possible and offer them music that sings to their hearts.

We were especially pleased with the wonderful feedback we got from all the bluegrass DJs we met recently at the IBMA WOB conference just held in Nashville. So many of the DJs made a point to let us know how much they loved the album and they really welcomed the material and our sound as ‘refreshing’. It was great to see how much the bluegrass audience loves the album.”

Lonesome Pine RFD runs from 9:00 a.m. to noon, with Claire’s interview set to run at 11:00. You can listen over the air at 89.1 FM in NYC, or online via live streaming at www.wfdu.fm. The show is archived for two weeks on the WFDU site should you miss it in real time.

The show can be heard on WAMU online and is syndicated on 150 NPR affiliate stations all over the US. The segment with Ralph is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. (EDT).

Audio archives are maintained on the WAMU site, and today’s show will be available in the archive approximately one hour after the program ends.

UPDATE 1:00 p.m. – We just heard from WAMU’s Bluegrass Country host Katy Daley, who sent along a couple of photos from today’s visit from a number of bluegrass legends.

While Dr. Ralph Stanley was being interviewed (and line singing) with Diane Rehm, Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen were across the hall on the air with Lee Michael Demsey on Bluegrass Country.  Hillman and Pederson sang a few songs live — Wait a Minute, Love Reunited among them — and talked their 45-years in the music business — Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Desert Rose Band.

They’re in town to play the Birchmere tonight with The Grascals.  Chris Hillman is giving a lecture on his career at the Library of Congress on Friday from Noon to 1.

You can catch Carol’s show over the air at 89.1 FM in the New York city metropolitan area, and over on the Internet via live streaming. It will also air on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country at some point in the next few weeks.

They are dragging all the necessary technical gear, not to mention nearly a dozen staff and show hosts, to The Renaissance Hotel adjacent to the Nashville Convention Center where all the World of Bluegrass and Fan Fest activities are scheduled. Both over-the-air broadcasts in the DC metro market and their online simulcast will originate from Nashville for several hours each day, including interviews and live,”in-studio” performances.

They will also broadcast live from the official showcase stage on Monday night, featuring performances from The Davidson Brothers, Gold Heart, Spring Creek, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, The Crowe Brothers and Josh Williams.

Artists already lined up to visit on-air with Bluegrass Country hosts include Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Audie Blaylock & Redline, Claire Lynch, Mountain Heart, Lou Reid & Carolina, Bobby Osborne, Sierra Hull… and your Bluegrass Blog authors Brance Gillihan and John Lawless! We’ll be on Thursday (10/1) at 2:00 p.m. (CDT) to talk with Katy Daley about that evening’s gala Award Show – and our pre-show red carpet interviews with all the bluegrass stars. Also joining us on-air will be Doug McKelway of WFLA in Washington, who will be Katy’s co-host on the red carpet.

Don’t fret… we’ll remind you lest you forget.

Here’s the Bluegrass Country broadcast schedule from Nashville for next week:

• Monday Night Showcase (9:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.)
• Monday-Wednesday (3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.)
• Thursday (3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
• Friday (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.)

All times CDT – Nashville time. **Times are actually eastern, not central.**

Since the World Of Bluegrass is a business conference – an industry affair, if you will – it is primarily attended by folks who work full-time in the bluegrass biz, and is not particularly accessible to either fans, pickers or even many part-time bluegrass businesspeople.

It is the mission of WAMU’s Bluegrass Country – and The Bluegrass Blog, of course – to bring the flavor of this event to everyone who can’t be there on the ground.

But neither Bush nor Jarosz can be described simply – or even  primarily – as a mandolinist. Both are distinctive vocalists and multi-instrumentalists as well, and Bush’s place as a seminal figure in the development of newgrass is uncontested. Where a young artist like Jarosz will take the music will be an interesting story to watch this next however many years.

All that aside, Saturday’s program will allow both to showcase music from their new releases with listeners invited to draw, or ignore any comparisons they wish. Sam will have his mighty band in tow, and Sarah will do a couple with the PHC house band (plus Byron House on bass), and one on her own.

The broadcast from the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, MN goes out live September 26 at 6:00 p.m. (EDT) over hundreds of public radio affiliates across the US. It will also be simulcast live online and on Sirius-XM.

Many radio affiliates delay the broadcast until later in the evening, or Sunday morning, so check your local station for air times.

We are hoping to get a behind-the-scenes report from Sarah later this weekend. Should be a whale of a show.

It will be their second visit to the Opry stage, and banjo picker and primary songwriter Graham Sharp tells us that they will be highlighting material from their upcoming album, Deep In The Shade, due from Rebel on October 6.

“We’ll be doing a couple tunes for the 8:00 segment of this Friday’s Grand Ol’ Opry, probably from the new record. We’ve been doing most of the new songs live and folks seem to really like the direction we’ve taken; I think the tunes are pretty distinctive.

It’s exciting times…  our last Opry appearance, I believe, was one of the last shows Porter Wagoner hosted, so we have some fond memories there and are honored to be returning.”

The 8:00 p.m. Graham mentions is Central time, with the Opry show starting up on WSM at 7:00. Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys and The Whites will also appear on tonight’s show.

Tune in to WSM at 650 AM or online to catch all the evening’s great music.

The CD, One More For the Road, was released on Tuesday and Sugar Hill and BMI have teamed up to sponsor a free live show at The Station Inn (September 24). It all starts at 6:00 p.m. (CDT) and if you won’t be in Nashville, WSM is broadcasting it live online.

Picking with him will be the Dan Tyminski Band as they highlight much of the material from Adam’s new album. Producer Barry Bales will be on bass, Ron Stewart on banjo, Justin Moses on fiddle, and Dan Tyminski on guitar – with Adam on mandolin, of course. Clay Hess, Randy Kohrs and Tina Steffey will also perform with the group.

The folks at Sugar Hill tell us that cold beer and finger food will be available at the Station, free of charge, starting at 6:00 Nashville time.

But we can’t all squeeze in to the friendly confines of the Station Inn, so the rest of us can check out the show on WSM, broadcasting at 650 AM, and online via live audio stream.

You can hear audio samples from the new CD in iTunes.

This morning (9/23) at 9:00 a.m. (EDT), Katy will speak with Valerie Smith about her 3rd annual Dare to Be Different Showcase, held in Bell Buckle, TN just prior to the IBMA events in Nashville. It’s a full day of bluegrass entertainment on Sunday (9/27) to benefit the Foundation for Bluegrass Music’s Bluegrass In The Schools program, which funds scholarships for schools that would like to, but can’t afford to bring a bluegrass band in to teach their students about the music.

The show will feature performances from several groups, including the newly-formed Jerry Butler & the Blu-J’s, plus a set from Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike.

Katy will have Missy Raines with her on Thursday morning (9/24) at 9:00 a.m.. Missy has yet another nomination for Bass Player of the Year from IBMA, and will discuss that with Katy, as well as her new band, The New Hip.

On Friday (9/25), Adam Steffey is on at 9:00 to talk about his new CD, One More For the Road, which dropped this week on Sugar Hill. Adam also has a number of IBMA nominations this year, for Mandolin Player of the Year and with the Dan Tyminski Band.

I’m sure that Katy will spin a few tracks from the CD, and hopefully will drag a yarn or two from Adam about the recording of this stellar project. Guests include Alison Krauss, Ron Block, Ron Stewart, Bryan Sutton, Randy Kohrs, Chris Stapleton and producer/bassist Barry Bales.

Bluegrass Country’s 24/7 bluegrass music feed can be heard worldwide on www.bluegrasscountry.org and in the Washington area on HD Radio WAMU-88.5 Channel Two, and on 105FiveFM.

Six times each year, a new volume of Prime Cuts has been delivered to hundreds of program directors and show hosts all over the world, with 12-15 tracks that the labels or artists have selected to highlight. They have helped countless new artists gain airplay, and figured in the promotion for most new releases by major bluegrass artists.

Their 100th CD was shipped in July, and we learned yesterday that it will be their last. Prime Cuts will continue, but under new management.

Here is the statement from the Brandenbergers that was issued on September 21.

You may have heard through the grapevine or noticed that you haven’t received your copy of Prime Cuts of Bluegrass, Volume 101 yet and suspected that something is up. After seventeen years and one hundred volumes of Prime Cuts of Bluegrass, Becky and I are ending our ownership of Prime Cuts of Bluegrass. About a year and a half ago, we agreed that the release of Volume 100 would be a good stopping point so that we could pursue other interests.

Fortunately, we have an interested individual who has verbally agreed to take over the operations and ownership of Prime Cuts of Bluegrass. This person (who shall remain anonymous until the transfer is completed) has assured us that the quality and type of service will remain the same ‚Äì in other words, take good care of “our baby” ‚Äì with future intentions to add internet capabilities.

Extra time is needed to make this transition go smoothly.  The next release of Prime Cuts of Bluegrass (Volume 101) is planned for January 15, 2010. Please periodically check the Prime Cuts of Bluegrass website for updated information.

It’s hard to put into words our heartfelt gratitude to you for supporting us through this venture. But, we are extremely thankful and appreciative. You’ve helped us make our mark in the bluegrass business world. We’ll miss working with you in this capacity but are sure that our paths will cross again. After all, we have something in common ‚Äì the love of bluegrass music!

Brink is also profiled this week on Music from Foggy Hollow, hosted each week on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country by Mike Kear. Mike plays some of Brink’s songs on this week’s show which have been recorded by artists like Don Rigsby, Grasstowne, Wildfire and Ryan Holladay.

Music from Foggy Hollow originates in Sydney Australia on Hawkesbury Radio 89.9FM, and is heard six times a week on Bluegrass Country. You can catch the Brinkman show on Tuesday (9/22) at 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Thursday (9/24) at 10:00 p.m., and Friday (9/25) at 12:00 p.m. All times eastern US.

As Mike related to us in a recent email…

“Also on this week’s show I’m playing new music from Sam Bush, Adam Steffey, Becky Schlegel, Ricky Skaggs, Claire Lynch and plenty more of the latest bluegrass. As usual I don’t take the show too seriously – there’s time for goofing off too. It’s another show oozing with bluegrass goodness, so you’d be a wombat to miss it!”

Bluegrass Country’s 24/7 bluegrass music feed can be heard worldwide on www.bluegrasscountry.org and in the Washington area on HD Radio WAMU-88.5 Channel Two, and on 105FiveFM.

Ricky talked about his father, Hobert Skaggs, and how he was the inspiration behind Ricky’s dedication to music, and the mandolin in particular. He told the story of how his dad got him his first instrument at age 5 – Ricky said that he awoke one morning to find a mandolin in bed with him. “It was like the greatest gift I’d ever gotten.”

Block even takes him back to his TV appearance with Flatt & Scruggs when he was only 7 years old. Skaggs tells the story of how his dad managed to get him backstage at the Ryman – he had befriended the backstage guard – where Earl Scruggs happened to hear him play the mandolin, and invited him to audition for their TV show.

The new album features Ricky playing all the instruments and singing all the parts on a set of old time ballads and songs. Several songs are excerpted on the show.

You can hear the entire 8 1/2 minute segment on the NRP web site.