As this year’s festival season rolls along, one landmark festival is distinctly missing from the schedule. The Sanders Family Bluegrass Festival in McAlester, OK is no more. After running for the last 31 years, the family decided to no longer hold the festival.

Citing age, family commitments, rising gasoline prices, and busy schedules as the reason, Jo Sanders (wife of Freddie Sanders) commented in a story by McAlester News-Capital.

Age, the economy and everything all came together. Sooner or later it was going to come to this.

The family offered these words of thanks to former supporters and attendees, on the festival website.

Words are inadequate to say, but many thanks to all who have supported, attended, and promoted the Sanders Family Bluegrass Festival throughout the years.

We will cherish a lifetime of Bluegrass memories and friends and continue to promote Bluegrass music.

I also will cherish some fond memories from this festival. I first attended in 1996. I was back several times, once to run sound for Billy Joe Foster.

Who could forget Freddie Sanders taking the stage with his dobro, playing a break, and then lighting some fireworks as he exclaimed how “hot” his own solo had just been!

It was at McAlester that I first saw several of the bands that had influenced me to pursue bluegrass music. I saw the Osborne Brothers, IIIrd Tyme Out, Doyle Lawson, and more. I’ll remember the festival fondly, for not only the stage performances, but also the campground jam sessions I enjoyed with Phil Elliot, Dave Carney, and others.

Having moved to Southwest Virginia, I haven’t attended the festival in nearly 10 years, but I’ll still miss it.

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

Last month we gave notice of the series of Bluegrass Nights concerts at The Ryman Auditorium during the summer months.

Ahead of his appearance with IIIrd Tyme Out this coming Thursday (July 10) Russell Moore reflects on what the venue means to him …..

“When I think about the history of bluegrass music, specifically its earliest years, one of the first things I think about is when Bill Monroe performed for the first time at the Ryman Auditorium on the Grand Ole Opry. For many, many years after that, I believe Mr. Monroe and his ‘Blue Grass Boys’ appearances, as well as other bluegrass bands appearances on the Opry, such as Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, were a major inspiration for the rising number of people who listened to or attended the Opry shows and for the Opry’s popularity, as well as Bluegrass music’s popularity. To have knowledge of these things and to ultimately have the opportunity to perform on the same stage and in the same building where these events occurred is about enough to make the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I never think about the RymanOpry’s early years and the ’stars’ who were a part of it is a treat for anyone who is a Country or Bluegrass music fan! The Ryman Auditorium is a grand building with a grand history and I’m always honored when able to perform there.”

Appearing with IIIrd Tyme Out on 7/10 are Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and Dailey & Vincent.

Phil Leadbetter tells us that he and his Grasstowne compatriots are packing for a week performing in Northern Europe.

The tour begins this weekend with a show at the Torsaker Bluegrass Festival in Sweden (7/5), followed by stops in Helsinki and Stockholm early next week.

When they return to the States mid-month, it’s back into the studio to begin working on their next recording project for Pinecastle Records. Phil noted with pride that their first CD, The Road Headin’ Home, hit #1 this week on The Roots Music Report, a radio play chart.

Phil also promised a full report and some choice photos from their Scandinavian adventure upon their return.

This past Sunday evening, Tom T. Hall was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, along with the Statler Brothers.

Tom T. has long been associated with bluegrass music. He got his start playing in a bluegrass band. He spent many years as the storyteller of country music, but in more recent years he has been writing songs for various bluegrass artists. He started his own label a few years ago, Good Homegrown Music, to produce and promote bluegrass music.

At Hall’s request, the red carpet saw many bluegrass stars Sunday night. In attendance were: Michelle Nixon, Dailey & Vincent, Heather Berry, Earl Scruggs, Larry Stephenson, Charlie Sizemore, Chris Jones, Alecia Nugent, Roni Stoneman and Judy Marshall.

The director of the Hall of Fame and Museum, Kyle Young, narrated the evening and shared that Hall had once confessed that

…the best music he ever heard and ever played was under a tree with a bluegrass band.

CMT News has the full story with details.

Congratulations to Tom T. Hall, it’s a well deserved honor!

Bluegrass artists are having an increasingly difficult time finding retail outlets for their recorded works. Wal-mart is all but inaccessable, and the brick and morter record shops are closing faster than a lick from Johnny Butten’s banjo.

Could Cracker Barrel become a viable retail outlet? One group of artists thinks so. Bob Everhart, president of the National Traditional Country Music Association, recently announced an opportunity for upper midewest country and bluegrass artists to place their music for sale in area Cracker Barrel Restaurants.

July 12, 2008 will see the kickoff to Cracker Barrel’s Rural Roots Music Fest. From 10am to 7pm area artists will perform on the front porch of the Crackerbarrel store at the Lake Manawa Shopping Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The 9-hour show is a means of ’supporting’ the Cracker Barrel’s decision to place local recorded product in-house. The ‘impetus’ of this first-time approach to independent recording artists, from Cracker Barrel’s point of view, is ‘great down-home country food in the dining room,’ and ‘great down-home country music on the front porch.’ This same theme will be hopefully carried through with ‘great down-home music CD’s in the store.’

If successful, this may lead to an expansion of the program to other stores. Cracker Barrel has had an interest in country and bluegrass music for some time, even starting their own label. This program will provide Cracker Barrel with music to sell and no overhead to produce it, and provide a much needed retail outlet for smaller independent groups. It sounds like a win-win situation.

More information is available on the NTCMA website.

In mid April we ran a poll asking our readers if they anticipated attending fewer festivals this season due to rising fuel prices. We had just over 500 readers participate in that poll with 58% saying that they would attend few festivals and 42% saying fuel costs would have no negative impact on their attendance this year.

Now that we’re in the middle of the festival season we thought it would informative to run that poll again, asking if you are, in fact, attending fewer bluegrass events this season.

With gas prices making festival attendance more doubtful, for many, bluegrass on television perhaps becomes more attractive than hitherto.

Recently, I was alerted to the appearance on Kentucky Educational Television’s Jubilee stage of California’s High Country, one of the West Coast’s premier traditional bluegrass bands. Being partial to their music, I thought I would investigate. I found a series of airings with sufficient interest to enthral fans of a variety of bluegrass persuasions for weeks to come.

Starting on Wednesday (6/25) with Lonesome River Band there’s a different band featured for each week through to the end of August, with each showing being available through to the weekend, Friday excepted in all cases.

A quick scan of the schedule reveals appearances on the programm by the aforesaid Butch Waller and High Country (commencing July 2), Foghorn Stringband (July 9), Berline-Crary-Hickman (July 16), Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper with Audie Blaylock (July 23), The Rascals (July 30), Adrienne Young & Little Sadie and Cadillac Sky (August 6), Danny Paisley & Southern Grass (August 13), The Fairwell Drifters and Blue Moon Rising (August 20) and Timberline Drive paired with Jake Quesenberry & The MacRae Brothers (commencing Thursday, August 28).

Each of these bands were recorded at last year’s River of Music Party in Owensboro, Kentucky.

The Jubilee series is a KET production, distributed to public television stations nationwide. The series is directed by Nick Helton and produced by Duncan Hart. Nancy Carpenter is executive producer.

More information about Jubilee is available online.

More information about KET programming and education services, as well as how to support KET, can be found at www.ket.org.

The 2008 series of Bluegrass Nights At The Ryman begins this Thursday, June 26. The annual summer series of shows staged at the so-called mother church of country music, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, will include appearances by Vince Gill, Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs, Ralph Stanley and Rhonda Vincent.

Scruggs will open the series on June 26 with the Infamous Stringdusters. While other concerts include Gill and the Steeldrivers (July 3), Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, IIIrd Tyme Out and Dailey & Vincent (July 10), Cherryholmes and Bradley Walker (July 17), Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder with his special guests the Whites (July 24) and Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys and the Grascals on July 31.

Tickets are available for all concerts, full details online.

The IBMA has announced that Cindy Baucom and Ned Luberecki will be the producers for the 2008 International Bluegrass Music Awards show. They will be tasked with coordinating the artists who will perform and the many presenters who will announce the awards at the gala awards show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on October 2, 2008.

Both are experienced radio professionals - Ned with Sirius Bluegrass and Cindy with her syndicated show, Knee Deep In Bluegrass. Ned is also a touring musician, performing on banjo and serving as an instructor at banjo camps worldwide, and Cindy has worked in live event planning and production.

This annual awards show is the culminating event at the IBMA’s Business Conference, where performers and industry professionals are feted for their work by their peers in the business.

More details and ticket information can be found on the IBMA web site.

Rudy Fest 2008 in Grayson, KY will host a special reunion performance by Unlimited Tradition, featuring the members of the band at the time they recorded their 1998 Doobie Shea CD, She’s Gone.

The June 28 show will feature Ray Craft on guitar, Shayne Bartley on mandolin, Scottie Sparks on guitar, John Lewis on banjo and Jason Hale on bass.

Each of these musicians have made their mark after Unlimited Tradition called it quits in 2000. Ray Craft worked with Rock County, and Bartley with Charlie Sizemore and Dave Peterson and 1946. Sparks is the current guitarist with Lost and Found, with whom Bartley and Lewis have also done some fill in work. Hale is working now with country singer Daryl Singletary.

All the guys are looking forward to the reunion show later this month, and hope to see a lot of friends and fans at Rudy Fest. Full festival details can be found online.

Over the weekend a series of severe storms inundated Indiana with rain. Many festival goers have been wondering if the Bill Monroe Memorial Bluegrass Festival would go on as scheduled, or be canceled due to the inclement weather.

We received news this morning that the festival will go on. Dwight Dillman, owner of the park, said the they did experience some flood damage, but the staff have been working around the clock to restore the park to a usable state. All water and electricity has been restored and is working correctly.

The festival will continue as planned, but Dillman suggests festival attendees should check ahead for road closures or detours and allow some extra time for travel.

Please visit beanblossom.com for more information about the festival, and contact the Indiana Department of Transportation for road conditions and detours.

UPDATE: The Brown County CVB is taking calls for the park regarding road conditions; updates and directions to the park. Their number is (800) 753-3255 9am-6pm ET MON-THURS; 9am-8pm ET FRI-SAT; 10am-5pm ET SUN. Please do not contact the park directly.

We’ve found out about a few more bluegrass happenings during this weekend’s Country Music Association Music Festival and Fan Fair.

The Grascals have a full day there in Nashville on Sunday (6/8). They have a Fan Fair Booth in the morning, and a number of performances and appearances throughout the day. Here’s the full schedule (all times CDT):

• 10:00-11:00 a.m. - The Grascals Booth #510
• 11:45 a.m. - Performance on Chevy Stage at Sommet Center Plaza
• 1:00-2:00 p.m. - Grand Ole Opry Booth #722
• 2:00-3:00 p.m. - GAC Booth #200
• 3:00-4:00 p.m. - Chevy Booth #517
• 4:00-5:00 p.m. - Chevy Ride & Drive - 5th Ave. at Chevy/Sommet Center Plaza

Plus The Bluegrass Bus Museum will be on hand in the Nashville Convention Center through the weekend. This rolling repository of bluegrass memorabilia is lovingly tended by Danny Clark, who would like nothing more than to share his love of the music and its history with visitors.

In November last year Jim Peva gave notice of the impending sale of the Bill Monroe Memorial Park and Campground, home of the famous Bean Blossom bluegrass festivals.

More recently, he informed us of current plans. Following on from that comes news of the formation, by a group of devoted enthusiasts and industry folks, of the Bean Blossom Brown County Jamboree Preservation Foundation Inc. in a continued effort to ensure that the Bill Monroe Memorial Park and Campground continues to be the “Mecca of Bluegrass” for generations to come.

In an expression of his support for the Bean Blossom Jamboree Foundation (BBJF), park owner Dwight Dillman, a former banjo player with the Blue Grass Boys, recently removed the For Sale sign posted at the entrance to the park. Although not part of the Board of Directors or the Advisory Committee, Dillman endorses the Foundation’s plan to purchase and operate the park in accordance with its rich history and traditions.

The mission of the foundation is to establish a permanent music park and education center on the hallowed grounds where, Bean Blossom, the longest continuously-running bluegrass festival began in June 1967. Before Bill Monroe purchased the site, in 1951, it was home to the Brown County Jamboree that was held in the Brown County Jamboree Barn, which was officially opened in 1943.

The Bean Blossom Brown County Jamboree Preservation Foundation will have an information booth set up at all the events that take place at Bean Blossom including Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival (June 14-21), Bean Blossom Gospel Jubilee (July 30 - August 2), Uncle Pen Days (September 24-27) and Hillbilly Wagon Train Jam (October 2-4). The Foundation will also be at ROMP (June 26-28) in Owensboro, Kentucky.

BBJF Director Tom Adler said …….

“Our mission is to preserve the music park at Bean Blossom in perpetuity and continue the Brown County Jamboree’s heritage of musical shows and the bluegrass music festivals established at Bean Blossom by the Father of Bluegrass Music, Bill Monroe. The vision of the Foundation is a permanent music park and educational center, grounded in the history of the musical events at Bean Blossom.

If you are one of the many bluegrass fans with ‘Bean Blossom Memories’ of your own, and would like to see the history and traditions associated with the site of the world’s longest continuously-running bluegrass festival preserved for generations to come, you can play a key role!”

Tom clarified that role: (more…)

Our friend Doug McKelway, who anchors the local news broadcasts for WJLA TV in Washington, DC, was invited to The Del McCoury Band’s sound check yesterday prior to the start of DelFest in Cumberland, MD.

Doug is also a fine banjo picker, and he got a chance to jam with the band some in the news segment he prepared from his visit.

You can watch the roughly four minute clip (after a brief advertisement) at WJLA.com.

Earlier this week I happened to be talking to Jeanie Stanley, who reminded me that this holiday weekend she will be attending Dr. Ralph Stanley’s 38th Annual Memorial Weekend Bluegrass Festival, which uncle Ralph holds every year in honor of her father, and his brother, Carter.

Staged at the Hills of Home Park (Old Home Place) on Smith Ridge, Between Coeburn and McClure, Virginia, not only will she be back with family, but with friends as well with a line-up that includes former Clinch Mountain Boys Larry Sparks, Charlie Sizemore, Melvin Goins and George Shuffler among those who will be appearing during the three-day event starting on Thursday, and ending formally late on Saturday evening.

Ernie Thacker had been slated to appear, but he has been hospitalised once more. Please keep Ernie and his family in your thoughts/prayers.

Carter Stanley lies at rest, in accordance with his final wish, on Smith Ridge.

[Editor’s note] Ralph Stanley is featured on the cover of the June 2008 issue of Virginia Living, a glossy, large-format lifestyle magazine. He is also the subject of an interview that includes a number of wondeful photographs.

There is no content available on the magazine’s web site, but individual issues can be ordered online for only $4.95.

We heard yesterday from Travis Book of The Infamous Stringdusters, filling us in on the band’s ongoing European tour.

The guys have been there since the beginning of May, and will be appearing in Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic until June 1 - returning just in time for the release of their next CD, The Infamous Stringdusters, on June 10.

“We’re having a blast. Being so far from home for so long is tough, but it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. People are reacting very positively to the music. We’ve even got a group of people that are following us around, coming to multiple shows.

The language barrier has made the stage emceeing interesting. Some nights the audience has a better grasp of the English language, some nights less. Our stage show, the emcee part, has never been the smoothest or slickest - we’re just a bunch of guys hanging out, playing some music, so a lot of what we say, the humor especially, they don’t really understand. But it’s that way in the states a lot of times anyway!”

Travis also wanted to share their most recent video update, available on YouTube along with a number of other tour clips.

• Enter to win an autographed CD (and download a free track)
• Enter to win a pair of tickets to the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival

This past weekend’s USA Weekend, a magazine supplement to many of America’s weekend newspapers, has, as its feature article, an assessment of the 10 top places to hear authentic American music. As far as the magazine is concerned the top summertime destination for those wanting to enjoy bluegrass music is Bill Monroe Memorial Music Park & Campground, Bean Blossom, Indiana, the home of the Bill Monroe Memorial Bluegrass Festival.

I asked Jim Peva, author of Bean Blossom: Its People and Its Music, what attractions there were for visitors this summer. He provided this list of forthcoming events ….

• Bill Monroe Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival June 14-21, 2008
• Rock Hill MusicFest June 28, 2008
• Bean Blossom Gospel Jubilee July 30-August 2, 2008
• Bean Blossom Blues, Brews & BBQ September 4-6, 2008
• Friends UV Nature & Knowledge F.U.N.K. Fest Sept 12-14, 2008
• Bean Blossom BikerFest September 18-20, 2008
• Bluegrass Hall of Fame & Uncle Pen Days Sept. 24-27, 2008
• Hillbilly Wagon Train Jam October 2-4, 2008

The line-up for the first of these, the forthcoming 42nd Annual Bill Monroe Memorial Bluegrass Festival, June 14-21, includes the Grascals, Ralph Stanley, Seldom Scene, J.D. Crowe, Bobby Osborne, Cherryholmes, IIIrd Tyme Out, Jesse McReynolds, John Cowan, Larry Sparks, Marty Raybon, the Lewis Family, Ronny Reno, Lonesome River, and many, many others; over 50 bands in all.

We also hear from a reliable yet anonymous source that Earl Scruggs will make an unscheduled appearance at Bean Blossom on Saturday, June 14.

A complete band listing for this event and lots more is available at www.beanblossom.com, the Bean Blossom website.

Peva brought me up to date with the situation regarding the once-mooted sale of the site ……

“The for sale sign at Bean Blossom has been taken down. (more…)

McCoury Music and High Sierra Music have posted a YouTube video of Dierks Bentley rehearsing his hit song I’ve Got A Lot Of Leaving Left To Do with The Del McCoury Band in preparation for their joint appearance at DelFest next weekend.

The video shows them running through the tune, complete with an extended jam section - where Dierks even trades a few G runs with the Delster himself!

Jan de Mooy from The Netherlands sent along a number of terrific photos he took during the European World of Bluegrass festival in Voorthuizen earlier this month.

He captured images of of 12 different bands on stage, from 9 different European countries.

Here are the photos, tagged with his comments. Thanks Jan!