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!

     

     

     

 

Singer/songwriter Liz Meyer wrote in to let us know how the EWOB festival went this past weekend.

She tells us the weather was great in Voorthuizen and the music was even better. For three days this small Dutch town was teaming with bluegrass musicians from all over the world. 41 bands from 15 different countries, including three US bands, participated in the festivities.

These three days, May 1-3, were the culmination of a month of bluegrass celebrations that took place as part of the European World of Bluegrass. It also served as the kickoff for bluegrass month in Europe. During the month of May there are 195 European festivals and events where fans will be able to take in some good bluegrass on the old continent.

One of the most exciting parts of the EWOB festival is the European Bluegrass Band competition.

Winners are chosen each year by the musicians performing at the festival. The first place winner each year is invited to perform at the IBMA World of Bluegrass the following year. Here are this year’s winners.

1. European Bluegrass Band 2008: ACOUSTICURE (Hungary)
2. European Bluegrass Band 2008: PETR BRANDEJS BAND (Czech Republic)
3. European Bluegrass Band 2008: 4-WHEEL DRIVE (The Netherlands)

The #1 European Bluegrass Band 2008, Acousticure, is the first bluegrass band from Hungary to appear at this colorful international gathering, performing at the past 2 European World of Bluegrass Festivals. An energetic 4-piece group of impressive multi-instrumentalists, Acousticure keeps the sound crew hopping with frequent instrument changes. Their young spokesman, mandolin-fiddler-guitarist Zsolt Pinter, has spent enough time in the USA to speak English like a native, and has a remarkable command of bluegrass-country vocals. Acousticure’s musical vision playfully fuses bluegrass influences from old-time to newgrass, often incorporating their native Hungarian folk music. (An example of the latter, Kis Kece Lanyom, can be heard on the European World of Bluegrass 2007 CD from Strictly Country Records.) The US bluegrass scene will get a chance to experience Acousticure onstage in Nashville at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) World of Bluegrass convention in October 2009, where they will perform as the #1 European Bluegrass Band.

ACOUSTICURE:
Zsolt Pinter: fiddle, guitar, mandolin, vocal
Geza Kremnitzky - mandolin, banjo, vocal
Peter Gyergyadesz - bass, vocal
Andras Toth - guitar, banjo, dobro, mandolin, vocal

The professional band awards aren’t the only awards given during EWOB though. Each year the festival audience selects their favorite groups from among the showcase performances. Call it a Fan’s Choice Awards if you will. This year’s winners are:

1. Audience Popularity Award, EWOB 2008: BLUEGRASS CWRKOT (Czech Republic)
2. Audience Popularity Award, EWOB 2008: BLACKJACK (Czech Republic)
3. Audience Popularity Award, EWOB 2008: SUNNY SIDE (Czech Republic)

I find it very exciting to see and hear all this great bluegrass music being created outside the boundaries of the US.

Who says you can’t go home again?

Special Consensus mandolinist Ashby Frank is profiled in his hometown paper, The Lexington Dispatch, in Davidson County, NC. Ashby was raised in nearby Tyro, and is given the hero’s welcome in the this lengthy piece to mark his return to the Doyle Lawson festival in Denton next weekend.

Anyone who saw Ashby Frank’s first public performance about 12 years ago as part of the Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver’s Bluegrass Music Festival in Denton would remember him as an awesome up-and-coming young mandolin picker who had a bad case of shyness.

On that stage tucked between towering oak and maple trees, he performed with a band he threw together to be a Thursday night opening act for the weekend-long festival. The band featured his older sister, Jeannie Frank, on vocals. Then, she was known as the singer in the family and he the musician.

But when the 25-year-old Frank comes home next weekend to perform in the same bluegrass festival on the same stage, he won’t be that quiet young man standing on the side of the stage tearing up the mandolin. He’ll also be the new lead singer for the legendary bluegrass band Special Consensus.

You can read the full article by Jill Doss-Raines, which includes an interview with Ashby, on The Dispatch web site.

CMT.com’s Country Music Blog has just published Merlefest remembrances from three bluegrass artists. Rhonda Vincent, Blue Highway (Tim Stafford) and Sierra Hull share some thoughts about last weekend’s mega-fest in North Wilkesboro, NC.

Sierra had an especially poignant memory to cherish from Merlefest ‘08.

“One thing that was particularly exciting about this year’s Merlefest is that it was the first in which I’ve had my new album, Secrets (out May 6 on Rounder) for sale. Upon arriving to the festival Friday morning, I had not even seen a final packaged copy of the record yet. They were shipped directly there, hot off the printer! It was quite funny then having someone in the crowd bring me a copy to sign — that was my first time seeing it!”

Read all of these posts at CMT.com.

If you weren’t among the reported 76,000 in attendance at Merlefest last weekend, you can get a taste of the proceedings online. Our friend Ted Lehmann has dozens of photos posted on his blog, Bluegrass, Books, and Brainstorms.

Ted was on hand Tuesday through Sunday, and captured acts from the many stage shows, as well as the Pete Wernick jam camp and pre-festival jamming.

See all his fine photos at tedlehmann.blogspot.com.

The Isaacs have posted some sample video from their recent concert DVD release, Live In Norway. It starts with a spirited instrumental version of I’ll Fly Away followed by footage of the band and family sight-seeing.

The DVD was filmed in Kristiansand in June of 2007, and features 19 songs, including many popular titles from Isaacs’ CD releases.

Many grassers may think of The Isaacs primarily as a pop, Gospel act, not realizing that they started out as a bluegrass band singing Gospel music. I can recall seeing Ben, Sonya and Rebecca jamming at Galax and they are all serious and highly competent bluegrass pickers.

Check out the sample video clip for confirmation.

As a young man just gaining an interest in bluegrass music, the bluegrass festival was almost heaven for me. One of the first festivals I can remember attending was at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. I grew up there in Missouri so it seems natural I would have fond memories of this festival. This is where I first encountered the mandolin playing of Danny Roberts, the flatpicking of John Chapman, and the thrill of excitement of being at a bluegrass festival.

Silver Dollar City has hosted a bluegrass festival since 1975. Back then it was called the Mountain Folks Music Festival. Over the years the festival has changed names and dates more than once. Four years ago it became Silver Dollar City’s Bluegrass & BBQ Festival. The festival is a long running one, starting on May 10 and continuing through June 1, 2008. During these 23 days, the park will be running a total of nine stages throughout each day, with over 60 bluegrass bands performing. Each performance is scheduled at 30 minutes and during the course of the festival there will be in excess of 1000 sets.

I had the chance to speak with D.A. Callaway, the festival coordinator, and he shared some interesting details about the event. With that many stages running for this length of time, the technical staff will be working hard. Callaway tells me they have 25 full time technical staff to run sound and lighting during the festival. The park hours are 9:30 AM to 7 PM each day. The shows begin in the morning and continue throughout the day.

Silver Dollar City is a large theme park that attracts a lot of tourists, but Callaway assures me that of the 10,000 attendees the park will average each day of the festival, 40-50% of them are there for the music. These are fans that might not be at the park if it wasn’t for the festival. Those are great numbers to contemplate on both sides of that equation. 4-5K people per day in attendance specifically to hear bluegrass music is a great turn out. But 5-6K people each day who aren’t there for the music, will surely hear it as they enjoy the other offerings of the park. Perhaps a few new bluegrass fans will be born next month in Branson!

With 60+ bands performing I was curious how artists are selected for inclusion in the festival. (more…)

Mountain High Bluegrass Associates of Bellow Falls, VT has just published the 2008 Bluegrass Guide, featuring a cover story on native Vermonter, Dan Tyminski.

Dan talks about learning to play as a young boy, his early picking days with Green Mountain Bluegrass and his tremendous success in recent years.

The Bluegrass Guide is published each spring with festival listings and flyers, and a variety of profiles of bands, songwriters, engineers/producers and radio hosts.

It can be ordered online for $10 (plus $5 shipping).

The European Bluegrass Music Association (EBMA) has a very comprehensive European festival schedule online on their new website. The listing provides information regarding each concert, including the date, location, name of the event, appropriate website or email link, and additional comments about the event. Listings are provided through the end of calendar year 2008.

In addition to the listing of events, the site also has a thorough guide for US bands interested in touring Europe. The guide includes information regarding venues, travel logistics, lodging, traveling with instruments, merchandise sales, and tips on the various cultural differences you might encounter.

If you’re in Europe, or considering a summer vacation there, and would like to take in a bluegrass festival or concert, be sure to consult their listing of events.

If you think you’d like to take your band to Europe on a performance tour, this guide should provide valuable information.

Alison Krauss & Robert Plant will be performing a concert in Chattanooga, TN on Wednesday of this week, and our good friend Wichita Rutherford is giving away four tickets to the show. He’s giving them away in pairs so there will be two winners who receive two tickets each.

You’ll have to hurry to win though, entry in the contest ends at 4PM CST today. He’s made the entry interesting, it’s not as simple as just filling out a zip code and email address. You’ll have to work for it bit.

Visit Wichita’s Blog for more details.

We all know that bluegrass music is a performance art, but here’s a story that puts a new twist on that.

Brenda Behr is an artist in the paint and canvas sense of the word. But she also loves bluegrass music. She’s combined these two art forms by arranging to paint bluegrass band Kickin’ Grass while they perform at a fundraiser for people with disabilities.

I have been looking for a venue in which to paint more performing bluegrass musicians…I’ve painted blues musicians for two consecutive years at the Fargo Blues Festival in Fargo, North Dakota. The fans love it, and are very willing to pay on the spot for the watercolors.

Behr has agreed to donate a portion of her profits to help the fundraiser, which is to benefit Bear Creek Center, a not-for-profit center run by RHA Howell Care Centers, supporting and educating 125 people with mental and physical disabilities.

The event will take place on the grounds of Hinnant Family Vineyards located in Pine Level, NC on Saturday, May 10, 2008. Activities will take place between Noon and 6 PM. Admission is $20 per adult, children under 12 are admitted free.

The White Sands Music Festival in Milton, FL will be operating a live webcam from the stage tonight (4/18) and all day Saturday (4/19) while the festival is underway.

Performers include Blue Moon Rising, Gary Waldrep, Nothin’ Fancy and hosts White Sands Panhandle Band among others.

Just visit the festival web site, and you’ll see the link to launch the streaming video.

HT: Mike Kelly, WDVX

The famous Wheeling, West Virginia, radio programme, the Wheeling Jamboree, on WWVA 1170AM, returns the air on Saturday, April 19. The Wheeling Jamboree Inc. will host their first show from John Marshall Center for the Performing Arts in Glen Dale, West Virginia.

On the bill is Bobby Osborne, who comes back to the stage on which he and his brother, Sonny, as the Osborne Brothers, were stalwarts in the 1950s and 1960s. Topping the bill is country star Earl Thomas Conley, a contemporary country music star in the1980s, while also on the show are Bluegrass Express from Eastern Ohio, Logan Wells from Cleveland who does a great tribute to Patsy Cline, and Roger Hoard with the Fabulous Bender Boys.

Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top X-Press can be heard also on their latest Rounder CD, Bluegrass Melodies (0582).

Tickets for this show are available at Wheeling Jamboree website or by calling 800-875-8702. Show time is 7:00 to 10:oo p.m. (EDT). Doors open at 5:30 pm.

Radio station WWVA aired its first broadcast on December 13, 1926, and like so many radio stations at the time it had its own Barn Dance featuring local music talent, particularly yodelers. Spurred by the success of these live music shows WWVA owner George W. Smith gathered several local musicians, set them up at WWVA’s Hawley Building studios, and broadcast the program as a late-night Saturday Jamboree. The first Wheeling Jamboree took place in the station’s Hawley Building studios in January 1933.

During its very storied history the Wheeling Jamboree has been the home to many fine singers.

Among the early performers were Loye Donald Pack, professionally known as singer/guitarist “Cowboy” Loye; “wandering minstrel” Elmer Crowe and Marshall Jones, the banjo and guitar player who would later achieve fame as Grandpa Jones. These were followed by Doc Williams and his Border Riders, Chickie Williams, Doc’ wife, who became legends on the programme; Lee and Juanita Moore; Dusty Owens; the Clinch Mountain Clan, led by Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper; Everett Lilly; Little Jimmy Dickens; Harold “Hawkshaw” Hawkins; Charlie Louvin; the afore-mentioned Osborne Brothers; Mac Wiseman; the Davis Sisters; the Stanley Brothers; Jim Greer’s Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks; and Brad Paisley, a twelve-year-old when he made his debut.

The programme celebrated its seventieth year of continuous broadcasts in 2003. Only the Grand Ole Opry has had a longer stage run. For millions of country music fans who come to the Capitol Music Hall every year, or who tune in the station on a Saturday night, Jamboree USA is an important piece in the country music tapestry.

The show ran for 72 years, until in 2005, when the Wheeling Capitol Music Hall changed ownership.

Wheeling Jamboree, Inc. is a non-profit corporation established by a group of dedicated individuals who have decided to revive the show, to promote educational opportunities in the music industry and performing arts, and to promote travel and tourism to the Wheeling area.

The Riverbend Bluegrass Festival in Ocilla, GA begins today, and BluegrassRadio.org will be on hand to record all of the main stage performances this weekend.

Artists to be recorded include Grasstowne, Lou Reid and Carolina, The Chapmans, and more.

The Grasstowne performance will be broadcast on Sunday April 20, 2008 @ 1 PM EDT. Next Saturday, April 26, 2008, BluegrassRadio.org will broadcast the entire main stage performance from all the bands. That will take place starting at 7 PM EDT.

If you don’t have plans Sunday, or next Saturday evening, be sure to attend the Riverbend Bluegrass Festival online at BluegrassRadio.org.

Festival season has officially begun and this last weekend saw bluegrass fans from all over converging on Farmington, NC for the 1st Annual FarmFest at Farmington Dragway.

Festival organizers tell me the event was a success and plans are already underway for next year.

The lineup for the festival was an impressive list of both regional and national bluegrass acts. Saturday night included a special All-Star Jam including Terry Baucom and Wes Golding, both of whom were members of Boone Creek when the debut album was released 30 years ago. Baucom and Golding were joined on stage by long time musical collaborator Lou Reid, and relative newcomer Josh Williams.

I wish I could have heard that! Cindy Baucom sent along this photo taken by Mike Lane.

Driving my truck to the office this morning I realized I needed to stop and fill the tank. That is a major financial commitment on a vehicle like mine. As I watched the pump quickly soar through the dollar signs, I began to wonder if the rising price of fuel would have any impact on the 2008 bluegrass festival season.

Filling up your vehicle, whether it’s a small car or a motor home, is going to cost more this summer than it did last summer. Will festival attendance be diminished as a result?

You tell me.