The Dixie Bee-Liners will be the guest on this next coming week’s edition of Studio Special on XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction. They’ll perform songs from their latest Pinecastle CD, RIPE, featuring their currently popular single, Down On The Crooked Road, and discuss the new project with host Kyle Cantrell.

The show debuts on Friday (7/11) at 8:00 a.m. (EDT), with several addition rebroadcasts over the course of the next week.

I contacted the artistic brain trust of the band, the singing/songwriting team of Brandi Hart and Buddy Woodward, to get their impressions of their first-time visit to the XM Nashville studio.

Buddy: Probably the most exciting part of our journey to XM Radio — and by “exciting,” I mean the Physiological definition (to stimulate or produce increased activity or response in an organ, tissue or nervous system) — was trying to park our 20-foot tour van in their tiny concrete carpark without, a.) bashing in the side paneling, b.) bashing in someone else’s side paneling, or, c.) knocking down the support columns, causing major structural failure and ultimate building implosion.

Brandi: They might have dropped us from the playlist after that.

Buddy: That’s not to say we weren’t excited about our upcoming performance on XM’s Studio Special series. We are all fans of Bluegrass Junction, and were looking forward to meeting Kyle Cantrell.

Brandi: He turned out to be a “lovely chap,” as our banjo player, Sam Morrow, would say — and the staff couldn’t have been nicer.

Buddy: We were presented with a veritable smorgasbord of mouth-watering vintage ribbon microphones to choose from, quickly decided on a set list, and before we had a chance to get butterflies, they were rolling. Songs were played, jokes were told, stories embellished, instruments identified, and coffee slurped. Veni, Vidi, Vici. And then it was off to the International Market for a Thai lunch and many cans of coconut soda.

Brandi: Sadly, nobody thought to bring a camera to the studio, but we do have artistic representations, expertly rendered by a well-respected southwestern Virginia illustrator. These images were specially commissioned by The Dixie Bee-Liners to allow readers of The Bluegrass Blog to relive every death-defying moment of that day with us.

Buddy: Does my hair really look like that from the side…???

Brandi: No comment.

Illustrations by JD Morrow, 7 year old son of Bee-Liners banjo picker, Sam Morrow.

Catch the show’s debut on Friday at 8:00 a.m., or during one these encore presentations (all times EDT).

• Saturday (7/12) - 11:00 a.m.
• Sunday (7/13) - 6:00 p.m.
• Monday (7/14) - 8:00 p.m.
• Tuesday (7/15) - Midnight (technically Wednesday morning)
• Thursday (7/17) - 3:00 p.m.

Dan Tyminski will be the interview guest on this morning’s (7/4) edition of Lonesome Pine RFD on WFDU-FM in the New York City market. Host Carol Beaugard caught up with Dan when he and his crack band were in NYC for a show on June 24. Dan stopped by the studio the day before and recorded the interview.

Carol offered a taste of their discussion…

“Dan talked about his early days as a mandolin player and vocalist with The Lonesome River Band. We spoke at length about the new album and Dan shared why he chose many of the songs included on the project and what the songs meant to him. We also reviewed his work in the movie ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’ and his experience working with George Clooney, the Coen Brothers and T-Bone Burnett.”

The show is broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to noon (EDT) on 89.1 FM in the NYC area, and streamed live online at WFDU.fm.

Carol also sent along a few photos she took at the band’s 6/24 concert at the Blender Theater in New York.

Our friends at Sirius Bluegrass, Chris Jones and Ned Luberecki, have an interesting twist on the US celebration of Independence Day this weekend.

Instead of songs with patriotic themes, they will instead feature the music of the many celebrated artists who started their careers as a member of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, only to later declare their independence and start their own bluegrass music ventures.

The Sirius Bluegrass “Bill Of Rights” was written by Bill Monroe, but when Flatt & Scruggs, Jimmy Martin and Del McCoury claimed their independence from Bill’s Bluegrass Boys, a new chapter of bluegrass history was written! This 4th of July weekend, we’ll pull out your favorite songs from the artists who claimed independence and emancipated to lead their own bands.

Things will kick off on Sirius 65 Friday morning (7/4) at 6:00 a.m. (EDT) and run through Sunday (7/6).

This afternoon (July 1) at 4:00 p.m., XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction offers the first look and listen to Keep On Walkin’, the third Rounder release from The Grascals.

Band members Terry Eldredge, Aaron McDaris, and Terry Smith will join Bluegrass Junction host Kyle Cantrell to play each track of the new CD (due July 15) and discuss the songs and the recording process.

The show will air several more times over the next two weeks, leading up to the release date. Should you miss today’s broadcast, check XM 14 for one of these rebroadcasts (all times EDT):

• Friday, July 4 at noon
• Sunday, July 6 at 10:00 a.m.
• Wednesday, July 9 at 8:00 p.m.
• Friday, July 11 at midnight
• Tuesday, July 15 at 9:00 a.m.

Speaking of the new Grascals CD…

We mentioned in an earlier post that Rounder would also be releasing Keep On Walkin’ as a long playing vinyl album as well as CD. For anyone interested in LPs, here is an interesting story from CNET News about the process of manufacturing vinyl records.

Our friend Katy Daley sent along this report from this past weekend’s Open House event for WAMU’s Bluegrass Country in Washington, DC.

On Sunday, June 22, the station offered live music and hosted listeners for station tours at WAMU, and Katy passed along this run down of the day’s event.

WAMU’s Bluegrass Country Open House was very successful. First of all the weather cooperated. All forecasts had called for rain or thunderstorms and it turned out to be a pretty nice day. The bands were on a small stage nestled in the flower gardens out on our front lawn and there was some shade for most of the audience most of the day.

Speaking of the bands — they did a great job, starting with ALL4Hym kicking the Sunday morning off right with gospel. We also had Washington-area favorites, Andrew Acosta and the New Old Time String Band, featuring the fiddling of 90-year-old Speedy Tolliver. Then a couple of bands headed up by two on-air hosts: Hubie King and the Old Timers and the Lisa Kay Band. And the afternoon was rounded up by a kicked-up Celtic group from Washington, Scythian.

We told our listeners we would show them how the magic of radio worked and we did. An estimated 400 people toured the studios and saw where and how the hosts work, using CDs, LPs and a computer program with a library of about 25,000 titles.

Our engineering staff answered technical questions and many of the tours went right into the air studio and talked with Lee Michael Demsey, Bill Foster, Fred Bartenstein, Tom Cat Reeder, Bob Webster, Echo Propp, Trevor Whitney and me about how shows were put together.

We had a large display of HD tabletop radios and several staff members parked their cars with HD radios out front so listeners could hear how great they sounded.

Of course, it’s not a party without refreshments and party favors. We had those, too. Visitors went home with goodie bags with bumperstickers and CDs. And three lucky people won HD Radios.

We didn’t want anyone out of the Washington area to feel left out so the web team kept updating a virtual tour of the station with day-of-the-event photos.

The Mashville Brigade is the guest on this week’s edition of Studio Special on XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction.

The show has the band in the studio performing the songs from their Rural Rhythm debut CD, Bluegrass Smash Hits Volume 1, and talking with show host Kyle Cantrell about the band and their new release.

Mashville Brigade is made up of six Nashville-based musicians, each of whom performs primarily as a member of another band - Jim Van Cleve on fiddle (Mountain Heart), Ashby Frank on mandolin (Special Consensus), Darrell Webb on guitar (Rhonda Vincent), Aaron McDaris on banjo (Grascals) and Randy Barnes on bass (NewFound Road).

The Mashville edition of Studio Special actually debuted earlier today (6/20), but it can be heard several more times over the next week (all times EDT).

• Saturday (6/21) - 11:00 a.m.
• Sunday (6/22) - 6:00 p.m.
• Monday (6/23) - 8:00 p.m.
• Tuesday (6/24) - Midnight (technically Wednesday morning)
• Thursday (6/26) - 3:00 p.m.

Bluegrass Junction can be found on XM 14 where they play bluegrass 24/7. If you don’t have XM, but would like to listen to the show, XM offers a free three day pass that allows you full online access to all the stations they offer.

If you’ll be near your computer, there are a number of online shows you might want to catch today (6/20).

At 11:00 a.m. this morning, Jimmy Gaudreau will join host Carol Beaugard on Lonesome Pine RFD, broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to noon on 89.1 FM in the New York City area. Jimmy is on tour now with Moondi Klein supporting their duo Rebel CD, 2:10 Train. They are opening for Emmylou Harris over the course of her summer tour.

You can find their tour dates on the duo’s web site.

If you aren’t in the NYC area, Lonesome Pine RFD is streamed live online at WFDU.fm.

At noon, The Lovell Sisters will perform live on WDVX’s Blue Plate Special. The show originates from Knoxville, TN and is broadcast in that market at 102.9 FM - and via live streaming online.

Blue Plate Special airs at noon (EDT).

For those who subscribe to Sirius satellite radio, here’s another one worth your attention.

The Infamous Stringdusters will be on Sirius Bluegrass tonight at 8:00 p.m. (EDT). The broadcast will feature a live set recorded last week at Nashville’s Station Inn where the guys run through all of the songs from their new CD, The Infamous Stringdusters, plus a couple of bluegrass favorites.

Should you miss tonight’s show, it will replay on Sirius Bluegrass on Saturday (6/21) at 10:00 p.m. and on Sunday (6/22) at 4:00 p.m. (all times eastern).

Sirius Bluegrass can be found at channel 65 on your Sirius Satellite Radio receiver. They also offer a subscription-based online service, Sirius Internet Radio, and free 3-day trials are offered to non-subscribers.

Dan Tyminski will celebrate today’s (6/17) release of Wheels, his new Rounder CD, with an appearance on the Tuesday Opry in Nashville. Their set will be during the show’s first segment, between 8:00-8:30 p.m. (EDT).

The Tuesday Opry broadcast is available over the air in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com. It can also be heard live on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville).

The new CD is in stores today, and available from online resellers. There are still no audio samples on the Rounder site, but two clips can be heard on Dan’s MySpace page, or samples from all 12 tracks in iTunes.

Speaking of Claire Lynch…

She will be joining Carol Beaugard on Lonesome Pine RFD this morning (6/13) at 11:00 a.m. to talk about all things Claire.

The show airs on WFDU-FM 89.1 FM in the New York city metropolitan area, and over on the Internet via live streaming.

Video of a recent performance by Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet on the Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour can now be viewed online.

The group is composed of Abby on clawhammer banjo and vocals, Bela Fleck on 3 finger banjo, Casey Driessen on fiddle and Ben Sollee on cello.

They are the sole guests on this program, and perform for the full hour amidst discussions with host Michael Johnathon about their new self-titled CD, from which they draw selections for the show.

See the full show online at the Woodsongs site.

Today’s (6/12) edition of Blue Plate Special on WDVX will feature a live (in-studio) set from The Infamous Stringdusters. Surely the guys will be featuring music from their new, self-titled CD, released just this week on Sugar Hill Records.

Blue Plate Special airs at noon (EDT). The show originates from Knoxville, TN and is broadcast in that market at 102.9 FM - and via live streaming online.

Speaking of the ‘Dusters…

The winners in our Grey Fox/Infamous Stringdusters contest have been chosen, and we will announce the winners here as soon as we hear back from them.

The Gibson Brothers stopped in at the studios of WAMU’s Bluegrass Country on Monday morning (6/2) and recorded an hour’s worth of music for broadcast on BluegrassCountry.org. On-air host Katy Daley tells us that the guys were crowded into their cozy studio space for the session, and she had the front row seat mere inches from the band.

They performed music from their new Sugar Hill CD, Iron & Diamonds, and chatted with Katy about all things Gibson.

You can catch their show during the second hour of Bluegrass Country’s Open Mic show, starting Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m. (6/7). The first hour features a set from The Whitetop Mountain Band.

After this coming week, the Gibsons set will switch into the online radio outfit’s Special Programming slot. The complete schedule for both shows can be found on the BluegrassCountry.org web site.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve followed The Infamous Stringdusters on their European tour (final video below), watched weekly excerpts from their latest promotional video and offered readers the chance to win valuable prizes associated with next week’s new CD release.

Sirius Bluegrass is also all over the ‘Dusters today, setting up to record their CD release party set at the Station Inn this evening (6/6). The band will do two sets, the first for industry folks (invitation only) and a set public set, both emceed by Sirius’ Ned Luberecki and recorded for a later broadcast by Battle Ridge Studio.

Ned tells us that the show will be broadcast on Friday, June 20, and almost surely again over the ensuing weekend. He suggests that you keep an eye on the Sirius Bluegrass site where broadcast times will be posted as the show date approaches.

Speaking of Sirius…

Jamie Dailey and Darren Vincent will guest host this evening (6/6) while Ned is at the Station Inn. Look for them from 5:00-7:00 p.m. (EDT) during which time they will spin their favorite bluegrass music and share their thoughts about all things bluegrass.

Find it all on Sirius channel 65.

Here is the final ‘Dusters inside look at their lengthy tour of Germany.

Since we first posted about Bluegrass Is My Second Language - A Year In The Life Of An Accidental Bluegrass Musician, the new book by John Santa, we’ve heard from readers who have been deeply touched by its story.

Well, John will be Friday’s (6/6) guest on Lonesome Pine RFD with Carol Beaugard on WFDU-FM (streamed online) for folks who would like to learn more about John and his mid-life conversion to the ways of the mandolin and bluegrass music.

John will join Carol at 10:00 a.m. on Friday to read some excerpts and discuss the book. They will also preview some music from his upcoming CD, The Blessing Of The Strings, which features songs from his book.

The show is broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to noon on 89.1 FM in the NYC area, and streamed live online at WFDU.fm.

John shared one thought about his upcoming interview…

“The irony of songs written from a book about North Carolina by North Carolina songwriters premiering in NEW YORK CITY (!!) is not lost on me.”

Chris Thile will be a guest on A Prairie Home Companion this weekend, sans the rest of his Punch Brothers merry band.

The show will broadcast live from Las Cruces, NM on May 31 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. (EDT) over a great many stations in the US, and on XM Satellite Radio track 133. Broadcast times vary from one affiliate to another, with many carrying the live feed on Saturday afternoons, and others running it instead early on Sunday afternoon. Check local listings for air times in your area.

You can also listen live online, accessed using Windows Media Player from the PHC web site. Past shows are also archived online, with audio files usually available by the Monday morning following a weekend broadcast.

Audie Blaylock and Redline will be guests on today’s (5/30) noontime edition of Blue Plate Special on WDVX.

They have been hard at work on a new CD, which Audie promises will be chock full of hard-driving, traditional bluegrass music. They are sure to preview it on the show today.

Joining Audie in the band are Evan Ward on banjo, Patrick McAvinue on fiddle, Jason Johnson on mandolin, and Matt Wallace on bass.

The show originates before a live audience from Knoxville, TN, where it airs on 102.9 and 105.9 FM. You can also catch Audie and the guys online via the WDVX streaming broadcast over the Internet.

Knoxville folk/Americana artist Marc Jeffares is also on the bill.

Short notice, but if you catch this piece in time, you can hear a Doyle Lawson interview this morning (5/29) on WAMU’s BluegrassCountry.org.

Doyle will join host Katy Daley on the phone at 9:00 a.m. to talk about his latest CD, Help Is On The Way, and his upcoming Alaskan cruise.

Katy says that she has another hot topic in mind…

“I’m also going to ask him about the new red bus they’re driving.  According to Doyle’s webpage newsletter, they’re thinking about naming her ‘Sadie.’ “

You can hear the 24/7 bluegrass feed at www.bluegrasscountry.org.

Rhonda Vincent will be a featured guest on this weekend’s edition of A Prairie Home Companion, carried on over 500 public radio stations in the US. Ms. Vincent and her talented band, The Rage, will join host Garrison Keillor and his cast of radio raconteurs, plus celebrated tenor, Raúl Melo.

The show will be broadcast from the Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park, Vienna, VA on Saturday (5/24). Actual broadcast times vary from one affiliate to another, with many carrying the live feed on Saturday evening, and others running it instead early on Sunday afternoon.

You can find the show on 580 public radio affiliate stations, on the Armed Forces Network, and on Sirius Satellite Radio’s Channel 134. The live broadcast is also available online via live streaming audio (Real Player format) from 6:00-8:00 p.m. (EDT).

Gracie Muldoon, general manager and popular on-air host on WorldWideBluegrass.com, is really psyched about the interview segments of her Muldoon In The Afternoon program today (5/23).

The show runs from noon to 2:00 p.m. (EDT) and will feature a half hour discussion with Jamie Daley and Darrin Vincent, followed by a surprise special guest.

Gracie was cloyingly vague about what is scheduled after Dailey & Vincent…

“Both gentlemen will be on the phone. I’m really excited about it.

However - it doesn’t end there.

Let’s just say - after the D&V interview - we’re supposed to receive a phone in from a VERY BIG NAME - that rarely gives interviews! We won’t say who it is - that will speak to me for about 10 -15 minutes.. but lets suffice it to say - IT’s REALLY A BIG MUSIC HERO to a lot of folks - so if folks want to know who it is.. they have to tune in @ 1:30 pm eastern.”

Hmmmm…. who could it be?

Eddie Adcock will be the featured guest on Friday morning’s (5/23) edition of Lonesome Pine RFD on WFDU-FM, in New Jersey. He will join host Carol Beaugard at 11:15 a.m. (EDT) to talk about the new CD from The Country Gentlemen Reunion Band.

Harry Grant from The Wind Gap Bluegrass Festival in Pennsylvania will be on hand as well for Friday’s show. He is bringing live recordings from past fests, as well as his many backstage stories and anecdotes from years in bluegrass music.

Lonesome Pine RFD is broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to noon on 89.1 FM in the NYC area, and streamed live online at WFDU.fm. It will also be recorded for a later broadcast on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country.