I wanted to add a few impressions to what Brance posted earlier…

Mountain Heart: I thought that their showcase was brilliant, and was very interested to see how they would approach this “going over to the other side” vibe. When the band launched in 1999 – in another en masse exodus from Doyle Lawson – they were a decidedly bluegrass group, very much in the Quicksilver mode.

Only banjo player and vocalist Barry Abernathy and fiddler Jim VanCleve remain from the original lineup, and with new members coming and going, you expect any band to see an evolution in their sound.

Over these ten years, they have been drifting towards a more modern sound, both in their recordings and in their stage presentation. With the addition last year of Josh Shilling, a very talented vocalist and songwriter whose background is in blues and funk-based music, the guys have been drifting ever farther from a bluegrass-only format. Even the fiddle tunes they perform often rely on harmony that owes as much to rock as bluegrass, and the production of their recent studio albums have strayed from kickoff-verse-chorus-break arrangements.

The whole point of last night’s showcase was to introduce a new stage show that made no attempt to be “a bluegrass band” or a “blues band” or a “rock band.”  The video Brance is editing now will have a lot of comments from Shilling about their newly-refocused approach, where they just let the various stylistic influences in the band be what they are. Bluegrass traditionalists may not care for it, but it struck me that anyone with an open mind towards quality music would have to work hard to dislike it.

Mountain Heart is hosting a mega-jam tonight (9/30) to celebrate their 10th Anniversary, with a stellar list of guests scheduled to appear with them on stage. We will certainly be trying to catch that, tonight at 11:15 p.m. (CDT).

Adam Steffey: I agree with Brance that this was a highlight of the day’s music. All the Mountain Heart guys were there – they headed down to see Adam (a former band mate) after their event had concluded.

His band – essentially The Dan Tyminski Band with Clay Hess on guitar and Randy Kohrs on resonator guitar – was sonic perfection. Ron Stewart shows every time he straps on one why he is among the most admired banjoists in bluegrass. Barry Bales plays bass with the tone and sense of time that the rest seek to emulate, and Justin Moses plays fiddle and sings tenor as well as one could hope. (more…)

Here is a gallery of photos from last night’s (9/29) IBMA festivities.

We are very fortunate this year to have Dean Hoffmeyer shooting for us during World Of Bluegrass. He is a Pulitzer-nominated photographer with The Richmond Times Dispatch, and his work speaks for itself. Dean’s work also graces a number of recent bluegrass CD covers, including the recent Grasstowne and Jason Davis projects.

Dean will be providing photos over the next few days, including Thursday night’s Awards Show. He will posting them as soon as he shoots, so we’ll have galleries going up during the show, while Brance and I are posting the winners in real time here on The Bluegrass Blog.

Just a quick update to say there is a ton of great bluegrass music being played this year. I saw three bands last night, all excellent.

First, John and I were able to catch a Mountain Heart show. The band performed some of their more requested tunes, but also unveiled some new music they’re working up. Several of the songs were performed for the first time last night. The material is great and the band sounds powerful. I really enjoyed the show. I taped part of the show and we talked to a couple of the band members afterward, with the camera running, so be on the lookout for a video later today.

Next we caught Adam Steffey’s official showcase. Adam has long been one of my favorites, and last night proved why. There’s just something cool about that “low lonesome sound” as Adam said, “High lonesome is sooooo 2007!”

Since Adam was the last of the official, main stage showcases, I headed downstairs for some “after hours” fun.

I caught Buddy Merriam’s show. Celebrating his 30th year of performing bluegrass music, there is no finer Monroe style mandolin player out there. And Buddy is just one of my favorite people. It doesn’t hurt that he’s got Ernie Sykes Jr. playing bass and singing with him. What a voice!

I stayed put after Buddy was finished and had the pleasure of hearing Frank Solivan II and his band Dirty Kitchen. Frank is a great musician and singer, and he’s surrounded himself with excellent musicians and singers. I was especially impressed with their trio vocals. They had the parts worked out and sounded good. Performing some traditional material as well as many originals, they’ve got a finely tuned sound that obviously appealed to the crowed who gathered to hear them.

After that, I visited with a few friends, picked up a couple pieces of news you’ll be reading about in the coming days, and then headed to bed. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera with me, so no pictures.

Sim Daley has introduced a new mandolin, built to Adam Stefffey’s exact specifications.

Sim hasn’t decided yet whether it will officially be dubbed the Adam Steffey Model, but that is what it will be no matter what its called. It’s the instrument Adam is playing now with The Dan Tyminski Band and you can have one just like it.

• Solid spruce top
• Premium curly maple back sides and neck
• Side and top fully bound with Ivoroid
• Flat fingerboard with small gauge fret-wire.
• 1” neck width (at the nut) with speed neck
• No fingerboard dots or headstock inlay (except “Daley” logo sat straight in headstock)
• Fingerboard abbreviated to the 18th fret
• Solid black face color with Crimean sunburst back, sides, neck and headstock
• Satin lacquer finish
• Waverly tuners and James tailpiece with nickel hardware

The new Steffey will sell for $8500 and orders placed now can be expected for delivery in 10-12 months.

Sim sent along a number of photos of the mandolin, and of Adam when he first came to pick it up.