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.

Entitled The freshman, the general tenor of the piece by Joan Anderman is the contrast between Sarah’s path and that of the average 18 year old artist with a recording contract.

Now, just when most rising stars would be leaping headlong into the beckoning arms of agents and promoters, Jarosz is putting her career on the back burner to study at the New England Conservatory. She admits that enrolling in the school of life was a tempting choice; plenty of musicians do it, and many believe that hitting the road is the only legitimate path for a player.

“I talked to a lot of musicians that I respect and got a lot of different opinions,’’ Jarosz says over coffee at a cafe near campus. “And I definitely did ponder the idea of just going straight into the music career. But there’s always more to learn, and I also didn’t want to miss out on the college experience. My roommate is a classical vocal performance major; she does a lot of opera singing, which is something I’ve never really been around before. I’ve been listening to a ton of Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. I’m in a world music and a Jewish music ensemble. I’m getting out of my comfort zone.’’

You can read the whole article online.

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.

Bluegrass Now tried going all-digital in March 2008, hoping that eliminating the print and mailing costs would allow them to survive with an online subscription model, but unfortunately for the entire bluegrass community, it was not to be.

The Bledsoes spelled it out in in their farewell message…

Although Bluegrass Now has avoided the magnitude of problems afflicting the major publishers, the economic downturn has impacted us in a variety of ways. After prolonged deliberations, we have decided that rather than compromise the integrity and quality of the magazine, which we have sought to maintain since its inception in 1990, we will cease publication at the end of this year.

One thing left unresolved was the status of the existing online subscribers when the magazine closed up shop. That issue has finally been resolved, and all current subscribers as of 12/08 will be offered an online subscription to Flatpicking Digital, the online home of Flatpicking Guitar magazine.

FGM publisher Dan Miller explains how the switch-off will work.

“Before they went out of business they were only offering a digital version of the magazine, so I’m allowing all of those people who still had issues remaining on their subscription to Bluegrass Now to have a one year digital subscription to Flatpicking Guitar Magazine – both our digital magazine and the audio files.”

Former BN subscribers can contact FGM for more details if they have not yet been contacted about this offer.

It’s called The Banjo Guru, and is a group blog written by a trio of experts: Mark Bramlett, John Drummond and Greg Earnest. Bramlett is the general manager of Banjo.com’s retail operation, Earnest is an Atlanta-based picker and banjo teacher with a knowledge of pre war banjos, and Drummond is the owner on Banjo.com, and a fine picker himself.

All three share their thoughts and experience in the banjo world with regular postings online at www.thebanjoguru.com.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer are touring in Hawaii, and we are all invited to join them today – in the cyber sense of the word. Their live show in Honolulu at the Road Runner Music Hall will be broadcast live by KSSK, starting at 4:00 p.m. (EDT) this afternoon (9/18).

KSSK may be a radio station, but they will be carrying a live video feed of the concert.

The trio is touring in support of their new CD, The Melody Of Rhythm, a collaborative set of compositions for banjo, bass and tabla. They will perform the title piece, a work in three movements, with the Honolulu Symphony this Saturday and Sunday.

Fleck, Hussain and Meyer will be out through the end of October doing live shows. You can find their schedule online.

Their latest CD, Time To Grow, was released on their own label, 2 DefPig Records, and they had an eventful tour season.

This Saturday (9/18), they will make their second appearance on The Grand Ole Opry – not bad for a trio of grassers in their early twenties!

As elder sister and fiddler Jessica Lovell related to us yesterday…

“We’re really excited about the Opry!

It’s been a wonderful summer, including the opportunity to play some of our dream festivals (MerleFest, Telluride, Bonnaroo), opening for and collaborating with Elvis Costello, our Opry debut, and record release in July!”

The girls will be highlighting material from the new CD on the Opry tomorrow night. Jessica said that they will surely perform the title track (a Lovells original), but are still laboring over which other song to choose.

You can tune in and catch their Opry set on WSM online during the 8:30-9:00 p.m. (EDT) segment on Saturday.

Here’s a video of their earlier Opry appearance on July 19.