Big Al is indeed taking over the fiddle spot from Brandon Godman, but only on an interim basis until a new full-time fiddler is hired. He is still working for the US Postal Service and is unable to handle Doyle’s heavy touring schedule.

Doyle is auditioning fiddlers now, and we’ll report back when a new one is announced.

I guess you can take the picker off the road, but you can’t take the road out of the picker?

Alan’s summer replacement, Brandon Godman, tells us that he left the group in order to finish his college education.

“Everyone says it’s harder to go back as you get older, so I thought now would be a good time to do so. I enjoyed working with DLQ and learned a whole lot, and I look forward to hearing Big Al with them again. He’s one of my favorite fiddlers!”

Brandon will continue to perform as his schedule allows, and will do some shows with Dale Ann Bradley in 2009.

Alan has a solid background as a fiddle player and bass singer, having toured with a number of bluegrass and country artists, including Doyle Lawson, BlueRidge, Larry Cordle, Lorrie Morgan, Pam Tillis, Terry Clark, and Doug Stone. After leaving Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Johnson took a job at the post office, while quietly getting involved in bluegrass music in new ways.

He’s been filling in with various artists who need a fiddle player when touring the Western part of North Carolina and Eastern part of Tennessee. He’s been teaching fiddle workshops at regional festivals. He’s also been helping his brother Kenny Johnson with the promotion of the High Country Bluegrass Festival in Boone, NC. The festival is coming up in early September. They have a stellar line up of bluegrass artists, including a fiddle workshop taught by, you guessed it, Big Al Johnson, along with Adam Haynes.

In addition to his work with the festival, Alan tells me he’s putting together his own band. This is something new for him since he’s always played the part of the sideman previously. He’s considering band names and players at this time, but expect an announcement soon, and look for them next summer at your favorite bluegrass venue.

In the meantime, you can keep up with Alan on his MySpace page.

Alan has accepted a full-time position with the U.S. Postal Service, and will be taking a break from performing as a bluegrass musician for the time being.

“Doyle is trying out fiddle players now. We’ll miss Alan’s fiddle work and bass singing.”

We hope to have an announcement about the newest member of Quicksilver soon.

The official announcement just landed in my inbox, including a quote from Doyle and a little back ground info about the new players.

I don’t like changes when they occur, but when they do, you just get on with life,” Lawson says. I’m really happy that I was able to find replacements this quickly. The good thing is that both of these players are really strong, quick studies. I’m excited.

Chris Warner, Quicksilver’s new banjo player and baritone singer originally hails from Dover, PA and has worked with the legendary Red Allen, and more recently with Audie Blaylock & Redline. Doyle’s history with Warner goes back to 1967, when the latter began a two year stint with the legendary Jimmy Martin. "He has the pop that I like," mentions Lawson.

Alan Johnson, who has most recently been finishing out the season with Blue Ridge, is the new fiddler for the band. Trained in bluegrass and a one-time member of Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, Alan has also played with several mainstream country artists, including Lorrie Morgan and Terri Clark.

Not long ago we covered the announcement that Jamie Dailey will be leaving the band at the end of 2007, but his replacement has not been named at this time.

Doyle’s new CD, More Behind The Picture Than the Wall, will be released later this month on Rounder Records. The release date is March 27th and Doyle will debut the new band line up that night on the Grand Ole Opry.

More details about start dates, etc., should be forthcoming later today.

Stay tuned…

It appeared as if Eddie Stubbs sat in one place for the entire day doing live interviews and broadcasts for WSM. At some point I stumbled across Byron House and Cody Kilby out in the hall working up a tune. Moving the other direction down the hall I spotted Chris Jones deep in conversation. Then I heard Don Rigsby & Midnight Call throwing down on some hard driving bluegrass.

Eddie Stubbs	Byron & Cody	Chris Jones	Don Rigsby

I headed back toward the PineCastle showcase room and caught a jam in hall with Carl Jackson and some others. I finally did make to the PineCastle room which is where I spent the remainder of my evening. The first act I saw was the John Cowan Band. John was great as usual. I spent some time talking with Barry Scott in hall and then went back in and sat down to watch John Cowan and Ronnie McCoury accompany Pat Flynn on a set.

Carl Jackson	John Cowan Band		Ronnie McCoury

After that Blueridge took the stage. I may be a little biased since these guys are friends of mine, but I say with all honesty that it was the best performance I saw last night. The group as a whole is just incredible, they are tight and rehearsed, they know their arrangements, and the material is wonderful. In addition to all that, Alan Bibey is simply one of the best mandolin players in the business and Junior Sisk has got to be the most soulful singer I know. When he sings a song, you believe him. It’s always a great performance, but it’s also completely heartfelt. They really are a great traditional band, though Alan is certainly capable of so much on the mandolin that I hate to qualify him that way. If you can’t tell, I like these guys’ music. Check them out when you get a chance.

BlueRidge	Alan & Junior	Alan Johnson	Alan Bibey

That’s it for now, but we have more photos of the event from contributing photographers and we’ll try and get some more galleries up soon.

This year’s faculty includes the members of BlueRidge, along with first time instructors Eddie Adcock and George Shuffler, plus returning favorites Kenny Baker, Jack Lawrence, Allen Shelton and Roland White.

The biggest news for RBW ‘06 is the inclusion this year of classes and workshops in bluegrass singing. Both individual vocal tips and workshop instruction in bluegrass harmony will be offered throughout the weekend, spearheaded by noted singer and vocal instructor Don Rigsby.

The 2006 faculty includes both legendary bluegrass pioneers and actively touring artists.

Once again, Gibson Original Acoustic Instruments will be donating a new instrument to be offered in a raffle to fund the RBW Scholarship for deserving young bluegrass students. Four full scholarships (tuition and accommodations) will be awarded to outstanding bluegrass musicians between the ages of 13-24, selected based on demonstrated ability through an application process.

This year, a new RB-250 banjo will be raffled, with chances to win sold at $10. Find all the details about the raffle and the scholarship on the RBW site.

The official release date is in early March but the band is told they will have product by the middle of February, so look for it at their record table soon! Be sure to check their tour schedule for a concert near you.

Alan Bibey, the band leader, had this to say about the new CD:

I think the variety of the material is what I like best about the project. It has everything from a cappella, to hard driving bluegrass gospel, to more contemporary originals. One original tune a friend of mine wrote that features Sonya Isaacs, has a more contemporary feel and is one of the best written tunes I’ve had the pleasure of recording! Also, I think a high point of the CD is Alan Johnson’s bass singing. A good bass singer like that really adds a lot on a gospel project like this.

In addition to the new CD, BlueRidge has a new website under development that will include an online store and several other exciting new features. Right now they have a sign-up form you can use to register for updates about the CD and website. You can find it on the front page of their website, BlueRidgeBluegrass.com.

Their most recent release, Side By Side, was nominated for a Grammy, reached #3 on the Bluegrass Now chart, and had a song hold the #1 position on the BN Gospel Truths chart for three months.

When we contacted Alan Bibey for comment on this new agreement, he was pointedly enthusiastic about BlueRidge’s new label partner:

BlueRidge has agreed to a one record deal, with an option for 2 more with Pinecastle Records, and we look forward to what will hopefully be a long, prosperous relationship for both of us! We’re thinking of January as a possible release date for the Gospel CD, with a bluegrass project to follow later in the year.

UPDATE 10/4: Alan Bibey has recently informed us that the source from which we drew some of the info about their Side By Side CD contained some incorrect data. It ended up voted as the #2 CD for the year in Bluegrass Now, and while it was in the running for a Grammy, it did not receive an actual nomination. Thanks for the clarification, Al!