Here’s another interesting package show for 2010.

Dale Ann Bradley will be collaborating next year with her old friend and former employee, Michael Cleveland, when she goes on the road with his band, Flamekeeper, for select shows next year. These dates will bill as Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper with special guest Dale Ann Bradley, with Jim Roe of Roe Entertainment handling the booking and arrangements.

These dates will feature Michael and Flamekeeper doing a one hour set, after which Dale Ann will join them for 30-45 minutes of her material with Michael and his band providing accompaniment.

Cleveland explained how this pairing came together.

“Tony Williams, promoter of the Kentucky Lake Bluegrass Festival, had booked Dale Ann Bradley and our band on the same show this year and he had an idea to have Dale Ann and Flamekeeper do a jam set at the end of the festival on that Saturday night. Tom Adams, Jesse Brock and myself had worked in Dale Ann’s band years ago, so we were pretty familiar with her older material.

We had so much fun playing that show together and we talked about it for days after. So the idea of teaming up with a package show like this seemed exciting and fun for all of us. I always enjoy getting to play music with her and I know what an incredible singer she is. Dale Ann can take any song, whether it be an original, or a standard and make it her own and I’m really looking forward to doing some shows together.”

Only a limited number of dates will be available for this show, as both acts maintain active schedules on their own. It seems likely that audiences, especially for indoor concert settings, will appreciate being able to see the 3-time IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year (Flamekeeper), 7-time Fiddle Player (Cleveland), reigning Bass player (Marshall Wilborn) and mandolin player (Jesse Brock), and the 3-time Female Vocalist (Bradley) in one, all-star show.

Dale Ann is eager to see these shows come to be.

“When I went out on my own, Michael Cleveland as well as Jesse Brock and Tom Adams were the musical glue that held it all together. Watching Michael play the fiddle with his signature drive and sensitivity…man, he’s something else. I am thrilled to be sharing a stage with him and all of the guys in Flamekeeper.”

Sounds like a fun show.

Junior Sisk is not known as the most talkative artist in bluegrass music, but he did record a podcast interview last week for Roanoke.com, the online home of my hometown newspaper, The Roanoke Times.

Junior had a show nearby and spoke at some length with music reporter Tad Dickens about his latest CD, Blue Side Of The Blue Ridge, and the 2009 IBMA Awards, where Junior had several nominations.

You can hear the entire 20 minute interview at Roanoke.com.

G2 is another example of a band that took full advantage of their opportunities at IBMA this year. The trip from Sweden involves considerable expense and preparation, and these five talented musicians were determined to leave as big a footprint as possible behind after their trip to Nashville.

As the winners of the 2007 European Band Of The Year at the European World of Bluegrass, they garnered the IBMA showcase slot “reserved” for the EWOB winners. They played on the Wednesday brunch showcase during IBMA week, but unlike most invited showcase acts, they were also featured on the International Bluegrass Music Awards show and the weekend Fan Fest.

But this wasn’t a matter of pure kismet; the band had laid the groundwork in advance. Banjoist Jens Koch had attended IBMA on a number of occasions, and the entire band was there in 2008. They generated quite a buzz from their late night showcase slots last year, and worked the networking hard that whole week.

Perhaps most importantly, they retained US representation (Roe Entertainment) following IBMA 2008, and booked two brief tours here prior to IBMA ‘09. Nothing shows an eagerness to perform in the US more than, well… performing in the US!

Jens shared a few impressions of their recent IBMA experience:

“We felt like we did a good performance on the main stage, and the energy in that room was great. I think that it’s great to have people sit down and enjoy the music with some food, that never hurts. We got great reactions after that showcase and to us it meant the world compared to doing all the late night showcases where very few people actually show up and personally I think that it’s hard to perform that well in a little showcase room due to our constant fight with jet-lag (it’s like 8 or 9 in the morning for us when we do late night showcases), less sound reinforcement and the small crowds. So we loved to play the brunch showcase.

Playing the Awards Show was such a treat. It felt very special to walk on that stage and I think one of us said ‘what the heck happened down there?’ as we came back to the dressing room in the Ryman, followed by ‘My record collection was sitting in the front row looking at me.’ Scary and nice at the same time. The vibe at the Ryman was definitely something else!”

Their second CD on Sweden’s Cosmos Records is due out shortly, and a number of US labels have expressed an interest in licensing it for distribution in the States. (more…)

One of the surprise hits at IBMA last month was The Quebe Sisters Band (pronounced kway-bee). I had not seen them prior to IBMA, though the buzz about their highly entertaining shows had reached my ear. These three talented young ladies (Grace, Sophia and Hulda) from Fort Worth, TX specialize in classic Texas swing, and their presentation is dead-on perfect.

Not only do the sisters sing together in close three part harmony – eerily reminiscent of the Andrews Sisters – they complement their vocals with equally precise triple fiddles. Accompanied only by sock-rhythm guitar and an upright bass, their music is compelling, and to serious fans of this vintage slice of American music, a pure delight.

The Quebe Sisters Band have been performing together since 2000 with Drew Phelps on bass and Joey McKenzie on guitar. The Quebes met Joey through his music school (McKenzies’ Music and Instructional Studio) in Mansfield, TX, where they studied fiddle as very young girls. A spot on the 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival brought the Quebes to a national audience, which led to guest spots on The Marty Stuart Show, The Grand Ole Opry and the Ernest Tubb Midnite Jamboree.

We spoke recently with Sherry McKenzie, who manages the studio with her husband, and also handles publicity for the band. They were extremely well-received at IBMA, but I was curious whether the positive reaction was converting to new opportunities for the band.

“We have received inquires and have been following up on these as well as getting in touch with contacts made during the week. It looks like the band will have the opportunity play a few states in 2010 that they have never been to before, as a direct result of IBMA.

As far as expanding our fan base, we gave away many CDs for radio airplay, and have had orders trickling in each week from folks who are hearing the QSB on their local bluegrass & Americana radio programs. We have had interest as well from people who didn’t attend IBMA, but have discovered the group by the official showcase videos that have made their way to YouTube.”

As we have asked a number of the official IBMA showcase acts, Sherry was asked whether the trip to Nashville was worth the trouble and expense. (more…)