Tom Adams will be joining Bill Emerson and the Sweet Dixie Band on guitar as of September 5.

We reported just two months ago that Tom was launching a new endeavor, Diamond Joe, with banjoist Chris Warner but that group has now disbanded. Tom says that the recordings the band has already made will be incorcorated into an upcoming Chris Warner release on Patuxent Records, and they will continue to track with Chris for this project.

You can find the tour schedule for The Sweet Dixie Band on their MySpace page.

Skaggs Family Records has begun posting video clips of Cadillac Sky from the recording sessions earlier this year for their upcoming CD, Gravity’s Our Enemy. A new video will go up each week until the album hits the street on August 19.

Skaggs Family is running a special promotion for pre-orders received online prior to August 16. When you place an order, you’ll be entered to win an iPod Nano pre-loaded with both Cadillac Sky recordings, plus all pre-orders will receive a free download card for exclusive C-Sky digital content.

Full details on the Skaggs Family web site.

This first clip has mandolinist Bryan Simpson and fiddler Ross Holmes discussing the new project and the “secrets” within.

If you like cute kids and bluegrass music, this video is bound to take you in. It’s a documentary on The Muellers, a family bluegrass band from Maine, created by film students at nearby Colby College.

It’s up on YouTube in two parts, running roughly 17 minutes in length. You’ll get to meet each member of the family and learn how Curt and Karen Mueller met, married and created a bluegrass brood. Parents and children alike have a refreshingly objective and realistic view of the music business and their goals of success.

You can hear both live and studio audio tracks from The Muellers on their MySpace page.

Geez… It seems like everyone in bluegrass but me and Brance are heading for Europe this summer.

Jimmy Bowen & Santa Fe are in Holland and Norway this week with five shows scheduled.

• Wednesday July 9 - Turfschip, Nieuwkoop
• Thursday July 10th - Nordfjord Folkemuseum, SANDANE (Norway)
• Friday July 11th- Private Event
• Saturday July 12th - Little White Church in REED
• Saturday July 12th - Norsk Country Treff

The Grascals sent along this photo from their appearance on the CBS Early Show this past Saturday (7/5), where they performed the title track from their upcoming CD, Keep On Walkin’, due from Rounder on July 15.

They asked us to remind everyone that there is less than a week remaining to enter to win a Takamine guitar when you pre-order the new CD. That offer ends on July 14. And also that the guys will be guests each Sunday for the remainder of July on Southern Fried Flicks with Hazel Smith on CMT.

Audio samples from Keep On Walkin’ can be found on the band’s MySpace page and at jukeboxalive.com.

Back in March we shared a few words from Cadillac Sky mandolinist and vocalist Bryan Simpson as the band got started on their next CD.

Well, it’s all finished and Gravity’s Our Enemy is set for an August 19 release on Skaggs Family Records.

We hooked up with Bryan once again last week to find out a bit about the new project.

“The title of the record is lifted from the lyrics of a song on the record called Carousel. We thought it was appropriate based on several things. With the last record referencing ‘walking,’ and with us attempting to really make this thing ‘fly’ with the new record, we thought Gravity’s Our Enemy was kind of cool.

But I also think of the ‘gravity’ in the title as sort of like the ‘gravity’ of our situation. I mean, we’ve got wives and kids now and they deserve our attention and that sort of prevents constant touring which would probably be the best thing for the band (maybe not for our lives but for the band), and there’s gravity to that. And just simply coming from the reference point of bluegrass - with our instrumentation,etc - and trying to take our music to more diverse audiences - that certainly can work against you at times - sort of the stereotypical presumptions that occur before you’ve even played a note. So there’s gravity to that.

But the record name chooses the ‘gravity’ of our situation as an adversary - because, be not fooled, we have no plans for defeat- we plan on rising above and getting our feet off the ground - very soon!!”

On this album, the band enlisted the aid of an outside producer, noted mandolinist and producer Mike Marshall.

“Blind Man Walking we produced ourself - so this new producer was a lot easier to work with - not such a hot head like the last. No, honestly, we co-produced this record with our new musical guru, Mike Marshall! And it was awesome. (more…)

Eclectic string band Old Crow Medicine Show has announced the release of two new recording projects in the next two months. Their next CD, Tennessee Pusher, is due on September 23 on Nettwerk Records, and a 3-song digital EP, Caroline, will be released on July 29.

The EP will include two tracks from the full length project (Caroline and Next Go ‘Round), plus a bonus track not found on the CD, Back To New Orleans.

Tennessee Pusher was produced by Don Was, more commonly seen in the studio with rock and pop artists like Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones or Elton John. Was has hailed OCMS as among the smartest young purveyors of Americana music, and it should be interesting to see what impact he has had on their studio sound.

Nettwerk is offering a free download of the title track from the digital EP. You can listen to the track in the player below, which also contains the download link (click play to see the link).

Thanks go out to our friend Bill Evans, west coast banjoist and renowned instructor of the five string, for pointing us to this fine review of a free show by Cherryholmes in New York City’s Madison Square Park this past Wednesday evening. As Bill had suggested, it was interesting to read this review of a band with whom we are well familiar, written by someone from outside of our bluegrass community.

Cherryholmes is an extremely flexible band, shifting arrangements, physical and vocal, several times per song. (At one point late in the show all the family members formed a line and jubilantly clogged.) And even though they are capable traditionalists — their self-titled fourth album is an excellent display of fundamentals — onstage they can be eccentric, especially Jere, the patriarch.

After a discussion of how to remain creative while touring the country with your family, he deadpanned, “The songs that I wrote happened to come out murder ballads.” “My True Love” was written by Sandy, he said, but not about him, because “she couldn’t find any words that rhymed with ‘short.’ Or ‘long gray beard.’ Or ‘bald head.’ ”

Sound familiar…?

It’s a brief review, but captures the spirit and style of the band’s live show quite well. Read the full article on the Times’ web site.

Rhonda Vincent fans can catch two of her new live performances online.

CMT.com’s Unplugged at Studio 330 features an episode with five live-in-the-studio songs and a number of interview clips with Rhonda. They play Gotta Start Somewhere, Good Thing Going, The Water Is Wide, Hit Parade Of Love and Bluegrass Saturday Night from her hew release, Good Thing Going.

During the interview, Rhonda talks about getting to sing with country superstar Kenny Chesney on the new release, and having teen pop megastar Miley Cyrus appear in her 2003 video for If Heartaches Had Wings (see YouTube clip below).

You can also see Rhonda and The Rage on the AT&T blue room in a pared-down presentation of Good Thing Going, I’m Leavin’ and I Will See You Again. Fiddler Hunter Berry wasn’t able to make this taping, and Daniel Grindstaff fills in for banjoist Kenny Ingram. There is also an interview segment with Rhonda in the blue room.

Here’s that video from 2003. Watch for Miley as the young girl, well before her Disney-fueled notoriety.

Brance posted a few weeks back about the online fan poll on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight web site to choose among nine new versions of the venerable diamond classic, Take Me Out To The Ballgame.

The competition was arranged to mark the 100th anniversary of the song’s first appearance, and the show’s producers asked nine popular artists to submit their versions.

Among the contestants is an entry from Chris Thile and Punch Brothers, who offer a take on the song featuring the well-known bluegrass combo of banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar and bass.

Semi-final voting ends this weekend, and the top three videos will be announced on the Sunday July 6 edition of Baseball Tonight (7:00 p.m. EDT), with a final winner named on July 13.

Here’s the Punch Brothers video entry for your consideration…

Be sure to vote for Punch Brothers and help Baseball Tonight honor two traditions with their winner - baseball… and bluegrass!

Keith Case & Associates and Columbia Artists Management are now accepting dates for a package show featuring bluegrass icon Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys and family supergroup Cherryholmes.

The twin billing will offer dates from fall 2008 through the summer of 2009.

For more details, contact Keith Case in Nashville (615-327-4646) or Toby Tumarkin in New York (212-841-9563).

We posted several weeks ago with news about Leavin’ Town, the upcoming CD project from Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, due from Rounder on July 29.

Michael tells us that the band has a new web site that went live this morning, with a new web address to boot. You should look for them online now at www.flamekeeperband.com, where you’ll find online ordering and news updates about the band and the new CD.

There are no audio samples up yet from Leavin’ Town, but Mike says they will be up there soon.

He also shared a few thoughts about the new CD, and the band’s comings and goings this year.

“The album has quite a few original tunes on it, along with some great older tunes that you don’t hear played every day. Some tunes that we are really excited about are Kickin’ Back, I’m Riding This Train and Farewell For A Little While. Kickin’ Back is a blistering mandolin instrumental written by Jesse Brock. Folks this one really moves on down the line. I’m Riding This Train is a vocal number written by Todd Rakestraw. Farewell For A Little While is a song written by Chris Stuart. The inspiration for this song came from the words written on the headstone of Carter Stanley’s grave.

We’re also excited about the 2008 tour schedule. We just got back from an incredible eight day tour of the Yukon and Alaska. We are also looking forward to a trip to Ireland for the Appalachian and Bluegrass Festival on September 5 - 7. The following day, September 8th, we’ll be in Runcorn, Cheshire, UK.

We look forward to seeing our west coast friends at the festival in Plymouth, CA on September 19 - 20.

Thanks everyone, for your support. We hope to see you soon at the shows and festivals.”

Lonesome River Band and Rural Rhythm Records are pleased to announce that the band’s next project will be released on the Arcadia, CA based label.

Though the new CD, No Turning Back, won’t be released until September 9, 2008, a new single from the album is expected in mid-July. The band will celebrate their 26th year by releasing their updated version of Them Blues, a song originally recorded by LRB back in 1984 on their very first album for Rebel Records.

LRB bandleader Sammy Shelor tells us how that song came to be chosen as the single…

“For years I’ve heard Them Blues played in jam sessions and at festival campgrounds based on the original LRB arrangement. It hadn’t been in our show for years, but we put it back in and the audience reaction was so strong that it seemed like an obvious way for us to connect the storied history of the band with our new, re-invented lineup for the next CD.”

Look for Them Blues as the first track on the second edition of Rural Rhythm’s Fresh Cuts & Key Tracks, a radio sampler due to be sent to show hosts and PDs in the next two weeks.

No Turning Back is the first recorded effort by the current edition of this hard-hitting band, featuring Sammy Shelor on banjo, Brandon Rickman on guitar and vocals, Andy Ball on mandolin and vocals, Mike Anglin on bass and Mike Hartgrove on fiddle.

Sammy is happy to see a new direction and a new business partnership in place for this new project.

“I feel like we have re-invented the LRB sound with this band, and I’m really excited about working with these guys - on stage and in the studio.

With a reinvented sound, it seemed like the right time to go a different direction with distribution and marketing, and we couldn’t have made a better choice than Rural Rhythm. All the Passamano family has shown the same seriousness and dedication about their end of the business as we do about ours, and I look forward to what we can accomplish together.

It’s amazing that the band has gone on for 25 years, but you can’t simply rest on your laurels in the music business. We are always looking to the future with Lonesome River Band and can’t wait for all our fans and friends to hear these great new songs on No Turning Back.”

Audio clips will be available soon on the Rural Rhythm site.

Gary Ferguson tells us that he is heading shortly for Ireland, his fourth consecutive July visit to the Emerald Isle.

He’ll have Colin Henry in tow on guitar and resonator guitar, joining Gary on guitar and vocals for the 11 day tour, running July 18-29. Irish vocalist and songwriter Janet Holmes will also perform with Gary and Colin for several shows.

Gary is excited for his Irish fans to get a chance to hear the music from his latest CD, Gary Ferguson and Friends - Live at Podunk, recorded at the Podunk Bluegrass Festival in Connecticut.

The tour stops are as follows:

• July 18 - Seamus Ennis Centre - Naul (w/Mick Hanly)
• July 19 - Saturday Connection with Charlie McGettigan
• July 19 - Bog Lane Theatre (w/Charlie McGettigan)
• July 20 - Ardara Bluegrass Festival - Ardara
• July 21 - McGrory’s - Culdaff
• July 22 - Rodden’s Bar- Buncrana
• July 23 - The Cobblestone - Dublin
• July 25 - Phil Murphy Weekend - Carrig on Bannow
• July 26 - Phil Murphy Weekend - Carrig on Bannow
• July 28 - McDaids - Midleton
• July 29 - Tadghin’s Bar - Ballylinan

The Chapmans are hoping to use the leverage of viral marketing to help promote their next recording project.

They have a new single release, which is being offered as a free digital download online. The track is a remake of Redwood Hill, the Gordon Lightfoot song made into a bluegrass classic by the Country Gentlemen in 1972.

They don’t yet have a new CD on the horizon, but Jeremy Chapman tells us that they wanted to remind everyone that they were still kicking with a new song.

“The main reason for the single was that we have been hearing a lot from fans and DJ’s wanting to know if we had anything new since Simple Man in the works. With the time we took off in the early part of the year to allow John to be home for the birth of his first baby, we decided to get into the studio to cut a few tracks while we were building a new team on the business end, as far as agent, management, and record label. One of the tunes we cut was Redwood Hill, which is one that we had grown up listening to the Country Gentlemen do. We thought we would keep pretty close to their arrangement to kind of pay homage to them.

Then as well as mailing it to a number of bluegrass radio stations, we wanted to make it available to all our fans through our new website for free. Just to hold them over until we have a full project finished.”

Listen to the new track on the band’s reverbnation site, where you can also download it for free.

Long time readers of The Bluegrass Blog may recall a story we posted two years ago about a then 7 year old Baruch Wright, who was a finalist - and eventual winner - in Oscar Mayer’s Sing The Jingle, Be A Star competition. But he isn’t the only member of his family with a talent for music.

Baruch performs with his younger brother and older sister as The Wright Kids, a family bluegrass band based in Rocky Mount, VA.

The three of them, Sage, Levi and Baruch, have been selected to appear as contestants on the third season of America’s Got Talent, which airs on NBC television on Tuesday nights this summer. If they impress the judges in this round, they will move on to the semi-final round where audience voting will select the winner.

Sage is 12 and plays the mandolin and fiddle, Baruch is 9 and plays guitar, and Levi is 6 and plays bass.

The Kids have just released a new CD, Playing On The Job, which also features their older brother Mason, who is studying music in college. Audio samples can be found online.

In 2006, they won the youth band competition at the Galax Old Fiddler’s Convention, and their performance was captured and shared on YouTube.

Audie Blaylock was featured on the front page of the Auburn, IN Evening Star this past Friday (6/20) - but the article had nothing to do with his heralded career in bluegrass music.

It turns out that Audie is not just serious about traditional bluegrass, but classic cars as well. He had driven his pride and joy to the cruise-in in Auburn, IN on Thursday evening, and it caught everyone’s attention.

From the article by Dave Kurtz…

The sound of well-tuned engines was making music to Blaylock’s ears.

“I’m 45. I’ve loved Mustangs since I was 4 years old,” he said, explaining why he chose his car four years ago. “I was looking for a red ’65 … but I really like this one.

“It’s called Acapulco Blue. It’s different, it’s not red or black.”

Read the full piece online.

We just received a note from Josh Swift, resonator guitarist with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.

He sent along a mini-travelogue report which will give Doyle’s many fans a look inside a road trip with Quicksilver.

Josh’s tale starts earlier this month…

“We departed Bristol Tennessee on June 5th where we performed in Cullman, AL, then onto Glen Saint Mary, FL on the 6th. We then headed west towards California making a stop in Foley, AL to hit Lamberts Café, home of the thrown rolls - and it became apparent that some of the members can’t catch. Our new fiddler Brandon Godman got initiated into the DL&Q birthday club.

Next stop was San Antonio to visit the Alamo. Richard, our bus driver, decided he wanted a sombrero. Then, it was onto El Paso, TX where Doyle added to his ‘way cool’ boot collection. We spent the day boot shopping.

Along with Doyle, Darren Beachley also added to his colorful boot collection and Brandon Godman started his own.

After drooling over the cool boots, we headed toward the Grand Canyon for a sundown stop at one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Nature was in full force as Key Chang was holding the door of the bus open for Darren Beachley to get a picture of a coyote and as it began to run towards the bus, Key, in a very panicked voice, said ‘Hurry up man - I am shuttin’ this door.’

The next stop was Williams, AZ on historic Route 66. A little local town shopping and doing laundry were in order that day. Then it was on to Victorville, CA for the Huck Finn Jubilee.

We got into town a little early and Carl needed a haircut. Let’s just say he wasn’t too thrilled with the local Barber Shop. We arrived at the show, where DL&Q soon played to a great crowd and even met Mark Twain (well almost).

Next stop was the 33rd annual California Bluegrass Association’s Father‚s Day Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley. DL&Q closed the show on Saturday night and did a 11am gospel show then a afternoon bluegrass set on Sunday. DL&Q seemed to be a fan favorite at both events and as Doyle says ‘We Love the fans in California and wish we would get out here more often.’

We left Grass Valley last night and are headed toward Nashville, where we will appear on the Grand Ole Opry on Friday June 20th. After playing the Opry, we will be headed toward a Saturday Evening Show in Cherokee, NC that will conclude our 17 Day Coast to Coast tour with DLQ!!!”

You can catch Doyle and the guys on the Friday Grand Ole Opry between 9:30-10:00 p.m. (EDT) on the radio in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville), and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

OK… now we know why The Grascals spent so much time at the CMA Music Festival last week.

While they were doing interviews at the Music Row Live! radio remotes event, they met up with pop, TV and soon-to-be country star Jessica Simpson. The boys have their next project, Keep On Walkin’, due out on Rounder July 15 and Jessica’s new single, Come On Over, has just been released to country radio.

Maybe the guys can talk her into going bluegrass on her next CD.

We posted back in April about Claire Lynch’s fan contest to win an iPod Shuffle pre-loaded with Claire’s six Rounder releases.

The premise of the contest was simple, but far from easy - tell your life story in only six words.

A winner has been chosen, Corrina Logston from Red Bud, IL, who impressed Claire with the way her entry could either be taken seriously, or tongue-in-cheek.

Action, adventure, romance - my Hollywood life.

Congratulations to Corrina, who is herself a talented young bluegrass musician.

Claire said that there were so many entries that caught her fancy that she found that she had to choose six honorable mentions as well.

Maintain yard. Never been to prison.
Jack Tolan, Rex, GA

An amateur ‘ologist of many subjects.
Jimmy Wells, Cullman, AL

Irish poet self-published with refrigerator magnets.
Shannon Sanford, Seymour, CT

In my life, I love dogs.
Hannah Menson, (age 9), Roswell, GA

Sunrise tea / sunset song / simple pleasures.
Ramona Ault, Vista, CA

Congrats to all the winners, and kudos to Claire for coming up with such creative promotions!