Tennessee Shines is a new live music radio show which debuts tonight (8/27) on WDVX, broadcasting at 89.9 FM in Knoxville, TN and via live audio streaming at wdvx.xom. The two hour show will be hosted by Jim Lauderdale and broadcast live on the last Wednesday of each month from Knoxville’s historic Bijou Theater.

Tonight’s guests will be The SteelDrivers, Darrell Scott, Shawn Camp and the everybodyfields.

In addition to live performances from each of the musical guests, Jim will be chatting with the bands, finding out what they have been doing, and what they have on the horizon. He will also participating in a songwriters session with Shawn Camp and both Mike Henderson and Chris Stapleton from The SteelDrivers.

WDVX will be the base radio home for Tennessee Shines, and discussions are now underway to bring the show into wider syndication, and hopefully satellite radio as well.

Guests have been booked for the September edition of Tennessee Shines, and the lineup will be announced during this evening’s program. Tonight’s show is sold out, but tickets to attend future shows can be obtained through the Tennessee Theater box office, and as available, at the door.

Tune in from 7:00-9:30 p.m. to catch the debut program tonight.

Mountain Heart is scheduled to play three shows with southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd in September.

Fiddler Jim van Cleve tells us that show promoter Kent Martin was so impressed with the band that he started talking with them about performing in other venues.

Martin knew Mountain Heart vocalist Josh Shilling before he joined the band, and Jim said that he was blown away when he saw Josh with them on stage.

“The promoter saw the high energy presentation of their show and ‘had to have us’ on these shows in front of Skynyrd.”

All three concerts are in the southwest VA and northwest NC areas in mid-September.

• September 11 – Danville, VA - Carrington Pavilion – 8:00 p.m.
• September 12 – Boone, NC – Appalachian State University – 8:00 p.m.
• September 13 – Elizabeth City, NC – Coast Guard Support Center – 7:00 p.m.

Shilling is especially excited about having this chance to open for such industry legends so close to his hometown of Martinsville, VA.

“These shows are going to be a blast! Lynyrd Skynyrd has always been a huge influence on us as musicians and in general, Skynyrd is just a huge group in these areas. Jason Moore and I know this first hand because the Danville show is right in our backyards. We couldn’t be more excited to share the stage and meld our acoustic sound with these southern rock icons!”

Mountain Heart has a show with country act Diamond Rio this next weekend (8/29) and has also been scheduling a number of shows with Tony Rice. All the guys are looking forward to getting their brand of high energy bluegrass before some new audiences.

You can find details on all their live appearances on the band’s web site.

The Sparrow Quartet will be kicking off this year’s Woodstock Film Festival with a concert. The concert will take place at the Bearsville Theater west of downtown Woodstock, on October 1, 2008.

The Sparrow Quartet is lead by Abigail Washburn and features banjo master Bela Fleck, along with Casey Driessen and Ben Sollee.

In addition to the concert, Bela’s documentary, Throw Down Your Heart, will also be featured with a special screening during the film festival.

Throw Down Your Heart won the Fan’s Choice Award at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, TX earlier this year.

Bobby Osborne and J.D. Crowe are hitting the road, together. The two legends are planning to tour as part of The American Bluegrass Masters concert tour. Organizers are stating this is the first time in 50 years that Crowe and Osborne have toured together. The tour is being promoted as featuring Living Legends & Next Generation Stars.

The Masters band for the tour consists of:

• Bobby Osborne - mandolin
• JD Crowe - banjo
• Dean Osborne - banjo and guitar
• Bobby Osborne Jr. - bass and guitar
• Richard Bennett - guitar
• Curtis Burch - resophonic/steel guitar
• JP Mathes - banjo, guitar, bass

In addition to the Masters band, the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music Ensemble is on the tour as well. The ensemble consists of:

• Obadiah (Obe) Golding - banjo
• Andrew DeKemper - resophonic/steel guitar
• Katherine Boguss - fiddle

No tour dates have been announced yet. Booking information is available at opus3artists.com.

The winners of the 73rd annual Old Fiddler’s Convention in Galax, VA have been posted online.

Bands and pickers come each year from far and wide to enjoy the fellowship and jamming, and take a shot at carrying off a Galax trophy.

Here are the winners of the Bluegrass Band category.

1. 4 Fret Kord - Chilhowie, VA
2. Cana Ramblers - Cana, VA
3. Exit 109 - Hillsville, VA
4. The Del-Tones - Roanoke, VA
5. Dixie Bluegrass Boys - Salem, VA
6. Narrow Road - Mt. Airy, NC
7. Blue Plate Special - Ashland, VA
8. Sons of the South - Woodlawn, VA
9. The Deer Creek Boys - Amherst, VA
10. Common Ground - Moneta, VA
11. Milestone - Dobson, NC
12. Dirt Road Sweethearts - Sea Grit, NJ
13. Blue Delivery - Greensboro, NC
14. R-N-T - Mt. Airy, NC
15. U-Turn - Huntersville, NC

The full list of winners are up on the Old Fiddler’s Convention web site.

In December of 2007 we told you the story of Bluegrass FM. An FM radio station that was starting a second station and pursuing an unusual business model. General Manager, Pete Stover, contacted us recently with an update and some more news.

The FCC has approved a request to increase the original station’s (WWED 89.5 in Fredericksburg, VA) power from 380 watts to 16,000 watts. Together with its sister station, WWEM 91.7 in Lynchburg, VA, Bluegrass FM broadcasts bluegrass music 24 hours a day in a non-commerical format.

The two stations are run as a private business, broadcast commercial free, and depend on corporate/business underwriting and listener support in a way similar to public radio.

This power increase is not without associated costs.

WWED will need to replace its current transmitter, antenna and antenna cable before the power increase can take effect. The project will cost an estimated $100,000 and will need to be raised from donations from listeners and corporate sponsors. Once the project funds are received, equipment can be ordered and installed.

Such changes will increase the station’s coverage dramatically toward Richmond, Charlottesville and Culpeper, as well as providing a denser and more listenable signal into portions of Northern Virginia south of Washington, D.C.

Completion of the power increase is anticipated in mid-2009.

I asked Pete how the new station in Lynchburg was fairing and he stared this report. (more…)

Our friend, Carol Beaugard - host of WFDU’s Lonesome Pine RFD - sent along this report (with photos) of the recent Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, the first year for this venerable event in its new home.

I totally loved Grey Fox this year and I think the new site (Walsh Farm in Oak Hill, NY) is fantastic. I really do prefer it to the old site. I’ve already congratulated Mary Doub and I think they accomplished a miracle by finding a new location and pulling together all the logistics to make the transition so easily.

The biggest highlight for me over the weekend was Hot Rize’s 30th Anniversary concert. They sounded unbelievable. The magic of Nick and Tim’s voices together and their expert MC work is the stuff that legends and the highest level of professionalism is all about. Charles was dearly missed but having Bryan Sutton in on guitar is such a treat. Don’t even get me started on how wonderful Red Knuckles was.

They were in rare form that night. Jerry Douglas was on stage as their manager gesturing to the crowds to applaud following every song. A mystery guest on fiddle who suspiciously looked like Sam Bush came out and they did a cowboy swing version of White Rabbit and Jerry pranced around the stage wearing a rabbit mask. All this and a very rare and exotic red moon emerged in the pitch black sky while they were on. It was magical. Red Knuckles did more than an hour playing for the dance tent later that night and the crowd couldn’t stop dancing and howling for more. Jay Ungar’s former wife (I forget her name) was on stage with them singing some numbers. It was something I’ll remember forever. I must say that Pete Wernick’s Red Knuckles MC work has gotten even funnier over the years - he too was in rare form.

• Abigail Washburn with Bela and the Sparrow Quartet - mindblowing!
• The Infamous Stringdusters - unreal - they converted the unanointed
• The David Grisman Bluegrass Experience - he’s such a master and hearing straight ahead bluegrass was awesome; Jim Nunally is a rhythm machine!
• The Gibson Brothers - they are at the top of their game - they did a vocal workshop with Dan Paisley that was superlative

Really, all the bands were tremendous. It was broiling hot. The surrounding area by the festival is gorgeous mountain ski country in NY State and offered beautiful scenery.

WFDU was one of the sponsors for the festival this year, which was a great honor.

The IBMA offered a seminar that was attended by more than 100 fans/musicians for 2 days. The seminar was entitled “Taking Your Band to the Next Level” and offered advice for bands on how to better market and promote their bands. I was a panelist and my topic was ‘Promoting Your Band to Radio’. Other keynote panelists included Ken Irwin and Bev Paul. Nancy Cardwell of the IBMA put the seminar together.

There are already some great clips all over You Tube from the festival. It was fantastic!

FiddleFest is an annual bluegrass festival located quite near my home in Roanoke, VA. It’s held the last weekend of July each year on the bucolic campus of Hollins University, just north of Roanoke.

I was able to attend last Friday’s (7/25) show where I enjoyed music of Grasstowne, Jimmy Bowen & Santa Fe, The Bluegrass Brothers and Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys - and was flat blown away by my first live experience of Dailey & Vincent!

Jenny Slaughter, the official FiddleFest photographer, shared a number of images she captured at the festival, which we share with our readers forthwith.

A couple of days ago we mentioned some of the activities in which Cherryholmes have been involved during the summer so far. Here’s some information to delight English fans of Cherryholmes’ style of bluegrass.

This dynamic family bluegrass band is listed among the acts to appear at the 44th Cambridge Folk Festival, Cherry Hinton Hall Grounds, Cambridge, July 31 - August 3.

Formed in April 1999, Cherryholmes has developed into a very accomplished unit with a growing catalogue of very good original material at their disposal. Individually, members are in demand as studio musicians recording on other people’s albums.

The award-winning group already has five CDs, two of which have been released on the prestigious Skaggs Family Records label, and as has been mentioned already, have in the studio working on their next album. Also in the Skaggs Family Recording Studio at the time was a camera man, and video clips revealing some of the recording process are available at the Skaggs Family Records website.

Also available is a clip from Cherryholmes’ appearance at the Glasgow (Scotland) Old Fruitmarket where they recorded Tell Me Why, among other songs, for their contribution to BBC Scotland’s ‘Celtic Connections 2008′ TV series.

Other dates while in England include …

• July 28 - Maidstone, Kent: Zebra Bar
• July 29 - Pontypridd: Muni Arts Centre
• July 30 - London: The Luminaire

Bluegrass Underground, a new monthly live bluegrass music show, is set to debut on WSM on August 29. It will air on WSM and in syndication on the last Friday night of each month at midnight (central time - technically, Saturday morning).

Each show will be recorded before a live audience more than 300 feet underground in The Volcano Room at Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville, TN - hence, the show’s name. The site is a natural amphitheater created by the actions of water and time over millions of years which the show’s producer, Todd Mayo, describes as one of the most acoustically pure natural spaces on earth.

“No man-made sound reaches inside the cavern and the living rock hued amid the eons is jagged and uneven, providing near perfect resonance. All performances will be entirely acoustic and unamplified. Each show will be recorded, mixed, and edited by our Grammy-Winning Recording Engineer, Phil Harris. The goal is to arrange the band around one large tube microphone to record and perform the way it was done in the Golden Age of Radio and Bluegrass. We will have plenty of other microphones on hand to compliment the recording where needed.”

The first two show tapings have been scheduled, and tickets are available now to be in the studio audience.

• August 16, 4:00-6:00 p.m. - The Steeldrivers
• September 27, 2:00-4:00 p.m. - The Grascals

Tim O’Brien and The Infamous Stringdusters are expected in shows later this year. Once the show gets going, video and audio archives will be added to the show’s web site.

Stations interested in carrying Bluegrass Underground should contact Todd Mayo by email.

Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike begin their latest trip to Europe on Sunday with fives dates in England, followed by two in Ireland and one in Wales before playing a last show in England and then moving on to make four appearances at venues in Germany.

The hectic tour - with 13 appearances in 16 days - is sponsored in part by British Americana magazine, Maverick, which describes Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike as an “excellent stage act ….. known for their lively and impressive concerts!”

Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike consists of lead singer and band leader Valerie Smith, Becky Buller on vocal, fiddle, clawhammer banjo, guitar and as a principal songwriter in the group, Bobby Davis on bass and fiddle, Chad Graves on resophonic guitar and vocals, and Eric Lambert on guitar and mandolin.

Valerie spoke to me about the trip just as she was making final preparations prior to flying out Friday morning …….

“This tour will represent eight years that I have performed in Europe and am anticipating seeing familiar faces. I welcome the opportunity to develop a wider audience. Bell Buckle Records is especially excited about Maverick magazine supporting my tour for the second time and helping spread the news about the anticipated release ‘Here’s A Little Song’!, a duet project recorded with artist, Becky Buller, who will be joining me on the tour. We plan to perform many new songs from the CD and hope that the audience enjoys our new, fresh, enthusiastic show! The band, Liberty Pike, is so much fun to watch and have a great time playing music together.

I have always loved to perform for the enthusiastic audience in Europe and UK and am excited to be there in July and August! Our first show is on the Isle of Wight, and the show will be filmed and produced by the UK Entertainment channel. What a surprise and great opportunity to share the music and gain more publicity for what we do.”

Here’s a full list of dates and venues for the tour ….

• July 20 - Freshwater Memorial Hall Freshwater, Isle of Wight
• July 21 - Zebra Bar, Maidstone, Kent
• July 23 - St. Bonaventure’s, Bristol
• July 24 - High Barn, Great Bardfield, Essex
• July 25 - Plough Arts Centre, Great Torrington, Devon
• July 26 - Phil Murphy Weekend, Carrig-on-Bannow, Ireland
• July 27 - Phil Murphy Weekend, Carrig-on-Bannow, Ireland
• July 28 - The Queen’s Hall, Narberth, Pembrokeshire, Wales
• July 29 - Comfort Hotel, Nottingham
• August 1 - Sudhaus, Tubingen, Germany
• August 2 - Kulturufer Festival, Friedrichshafen, Germany
• August 3 - Bardentreffen Festival, Nuremburg, Germany
• August 4 - Altes Kaufhaus, Landau, Germany

More information about the tour can be accessed at the band web site.

Valerie Smith and Becky Buller Here’s A Little Song hits the streets on September 9.

Guests on the CD include the multi-Grammy, Dove and IBMA award-winning Alan O’Bryant and Mike Compton from the Nashville Bluegrass Band; the 2007 IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year, Dale Ann Bradley; multi-IBMA award winner Wayne Benson of IIIrd Tyme Out; Kristin Scott Benson of the Larry Stephenson Band and Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time; and Justin Carbone of Special Consensus. They are also joined here by their fellow Liberty Pike members Chad Graves and Bobby Davis.

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.