Brown has never limited herself to a single type of music. As banjo player with Alison Krauss & Union Station in the late 1980s, she showed that she had a distinctive voice on her instrument, and much of her music since has focused on melodic, jazz and jazz-inflected original compositions.

The band includes her husband Garry West on bass, John Burr on piano, and Larry Atamanuik on drums.

Their complete 27 minute set can be streamed online.

The show will feature noted bluegrass and folk performers with the symphony, and was programmed as a tribute to the Americana Music Association’s convention next week, and the IBMA World of Bluegrass Convention at the end of the month, both held in Nashville.

Sam Bush, Alison Brown, Jerry Douglas and Abigail Washburn are among the list of guest artists for Classical Americana, and Craig Havighurst has put together a video that explains the motivation behind this unique musical collaboration.

You can find out more about this concert by visiting The Nashville Symphony online.

The Nashville Symphony will be doing a special show on Saturday, September 12, which they are billing as their inaugural Classical Americana concert at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The theme for this show is an exploration of the links between classical and roots music.

A number of bluegrass and old time artists will be featured performers – Alison Brown, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Byron House, and Abigail Washburn among them. They will join the Nashville Symphony, led by Resident Conductor Albert-George Schram, on a program of American music including Gospel, blues and folk melodies plus works from George Gershwin and Aaron Copland.

Full details and ticket information can be found on the Nashville Symphony web site.

The article – The Sisterhood of Bluegrass by Barry Mazor – discusses how the bluegrass/acoustic world has warmed of late to female-headed bands, and how these three all find themselves on Compass at this point in their careers.

“It’s a kind of sisterhood, really,” Ms. Brown notes, and she should know. She’s not only a widely admired banjo virtuoso, and in 1991 the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association’s banjo player of the year award, after a stint playing with Alison Krauss. She’s also a former investment banker who co-founded and heads Compass Records along with her husband and bandmate, Gary West. While the three 40-something bandleaders on Compass are different musically, Ms. Brown stresses their common history.

“We’re all about the same age,” she said in an interview at Compass’s Music Row offices, “and all three of us have seen change and what women can do in the field. When I was playing festivals growing up, people always felt compelled to say ‘you’re really good — for a girl,’ and it wasn’t even meant as an insult. But you don’t hear that so much any more; women are leading the charge with the most interesting bluegrass.”

You can read the full piece online, complete with audio tracks from the Brown, Bradley and Raines CDs.

From IBMA’s press release…

• Alison Brown, an executive with Compass Records and an award winning artist from Nashville, Tennessee was re-elected to represent members involved in recording, distribution and marketing.
• Mike Bub, an award-winning musician from Nashville, Tennessee, was re-elected to represent artists, composers and music publishers.
• Craig Ferguson, a festival producer with Planet Bluegrass in Lyons, Colorado was elected by members involved in event production.
• Jim Roe, of Roe Entertainment from Owensboro, Kentucky was elected to represent agents, managers and publicists.
• Neil Rosenberg, an author and historian from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada was re-elected by all professional members to an at-large post.

When space shuttle Atlantis took off last week to perform delicate repairs on the Hubble telescope, Alison’s new CD The Company You Keep was along for the ride. She counts at least two NASA astronauts among her fans. Marsha Ivins was responsible for turning Atlantis Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld on to her music, and it was he who brought the CD along for his down time in outer space.

This marks the fourth time that Brown’s music has been involved in a space shuttle mission, with three tracks from her previous releases having been used for wake up calls on earlier shuttle flights.

The CD contains ten tracks, of which 9 are her compositions. Alison is featured on banjo along with her band – Garry West on bass, John R. Burr on piano, Larry Atamanuik on drums and Joe Craven on madolin and fiddle – plus guest artists John Doyle (guitar), Stuart Duncan (fiddle ), and Kenny Malone (drums).

Audio samples can be found online.

The album features her quartet: John Burr on piano, Garry West on bass, Joe Craven on mandolin and fiddle and Larry Atamanuik on drums. Additional guest artists include John Doyle on guitar, Stuart Duncan on fiddle and Kenny Malone on drums.

The music places Brown’s banjo in a mainstream jazz rhythm section and is highly melodic, with several heads played in unison by the piano and the five string. Of course the soloing is first rate throughout.

Compass, which was founded by Brown and West in 1995, is offering a special promotion on the first 5,000 units shipped. These will be packaged with both the audio CD and a DVD that features a concert with The Alison Brown Quartet and Joe Craven shot at Vanderbilt University in December 2008. The concert includes songs from The Company You Keep as well as several from Alison’s earlier releases.

Audio samples can be found on the Compass web site, where pre-orders are being accepted.

The material is composed of primarily modern Christmas favorites, twice in interesting medleys, and always with clever arrangements. The venerable Carol Of The Bells is paired with We Three Kings, and Here Comes Santa Claus is merged with Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

Alison’s banjo is heavily featured on each track, with a light jazz rhythm section composed of her quartet – John Burr on piano, Garry West on bass,  David Heyer on drums – with special guests Joe Craven on fiddle and mandolin, and Larry Atamanuik on drums. Vocalists from the University School of Nashville also appear on several tracks.

Two Vince Guaraldi pieces from the beloved Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack are included (Skating and Christmas Time is Here), and the mid-1960s sound of Guaraldi’s Trio infuses much of this CD.

Silver Bells and Christmas Don’t Be Late have been added since the initial 2007 release, along with a precious hidden track of Alison’s daughter Hannah singing a reprise of Christmas Don’t Be Late.

Audio samples are available on the Compass Records web site.

As many of our readers know, Alison is a former banjoist with Alison Krauss & Union Station who now fronts a jazz quartet with her husband, Gary West, on bass, John Burr on piano and Larry Atamanuik on drums. Brown and West also manage the label Compass Records, which focuses on alternative acoustic, Celtic and bluegrass music.

The Democrat and Chronicle piece includes a number of exceptional photographs of the band preparing for and performing a set at the festival with a running voice over by the band members. Each describes their entry into the music world with a few choice reflections on the music as well.

Watch it online (click on Alison’s photo, upper right).

Tim Carter, along with his brother Danny, has been performing as The Carter Brothers since 2001. These Carters claim a distant relation to the legendary Carter Family, and bring their traditional music roots to their more eclectic, blues/rock/bluegrass show. Brother Tim now has his own solo releases, and he steps forward as the bluegrass part of the band’s equation. Ten songs, all but on written or co-written by Carter, feature Tim as a fine instrumentalist and a vocalist as well. Guests include Tim Stafford, both on guitar and as co-writer on several tracks, plus Rob Ickes on dobro, Casey Driessen on fiddle and Alison Brown on second banjo on a tune she and Tim wrote together.

Tim’s compositions for banjo tend towards the progressive realm, but his songs have a very traditional feel to them. The mix provides the artistic tension for Bang Bang, and makes for a very enjoyable listen.

Audio samples can be found on Tim’s MySpace page, and ordering is enabled on The Carter Brothers site and on CD Baby.

Tommy Webb’s new CD is entitled Eastern Kentucky, and he has called on some of the heavy hitters from that region of the country to assist him. Banjo legend JD Crowe supplies some words of praise on the back cover, and while his touring band of Chris Goble (banjo), Tadd Huff (bass) and Kenny O’Quinn (mandolin) supports him on a few cuts, the bulk of the recording features one of my very favorite bluegrass bands – Ron Stewart and Harold Nixon.

Ron supplies banjo, mandolin and fiddle on most of the tracks, and adds his guitar and resonator guitar to a few others. His New South bandmate Nixon provides bass on these same tracks, and the effect is quite powerful. I’ve suggested here in the past that Stewart is the most accomplished bluegrass musician of his generation, and those abilities are clearly on display here. He also produced and recorded this project, which has his sparkle all over it.

But Ron’s wizardry is not the main focus here, it’s Webb’s hardcore bluegrass singing and songwriting. A highlight is his grassified reworking of Clinton Gregory’s country hit, (If It Weren’t For Country Music) I’d Go Crazy, which reemerges as If It Weren’t For Bluegrass Music I’d Go Crazy. If you are familiar with the original, the clever retooling of the lyrics will be especially enjoyable.

Audio for Eastern Kentucky is also available on both MySpace and CD Baby.

Brendan was born on April 10, and arrived at 8 lbs. 8 oz. His dad is also a fine musician, so young Brendan will surely get a fine start if he chooses to follow in the family business.

Congratulations to the happy new parents!

The free track as of this writing is not from a bluegrass artist. Compass handles artists that fit in the americana/bluegrass genre, but also covers celtic, jazz, jam, and pop/adult-alternative. Judging by their artist roster I would only expect the free download to be from a bluegrass artist about once every 6-8 weeks, but it’s worth keeping an eye on it. You might find out about some music you weren’t aware of previously.

I’m just back – and completely exhausted! However, I wanted to share these pictures and relate a little bit of the magic that was day two of the 6th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, being held this weekend in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California.

It’s hard for me to imagine a more interesting and eclectic lineup of Americana, folk, singer-songwriter and bluegrass acts at any other festival in North America – and the fact that it’s a free event makes it all the more special. Hardly Strictly is a gift to the world from Warren Hellman, a San Francisco investment banker and aspiring clawhammer banjo player. This year’s event brings together folks like Earl Scruggs, Emmylou Harris (with John Starling, Tom Gray and Mike Auldridge), Dry Branch Fire Squad, Del McCoury Band and Ricky Skaggs as well as Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson and T Bone Burnett. It’s not all bluegrass but it is all fantastic and the mixing of different styles and perspectives is truly marvelous. And did I mention it is free?

I was asked by Warren to put something together this year that would be truly special and, knowing his love for banjo music, I asked my good friends and mentors Tony Trischka and Alan Munde to join me in a set of music at this year’s event. We played several triple banjo tunes in three part harmony (including the Osborne Brothers’ Big Ben and Alan Munde and Byron Berline’s Deputy Dalton) and also performed tunes separately, including two songs from Tony’s upcoming double banjo CD to be released on Rounder Records in January, 2007 (this is going to be good!). For our last tune, Alison Brown joined us for a four part version of Dixie Breakdown.

Earl Scruggs and Friends followed our performance and the U. S. Air Force Blue Angels put on a dazzling display of aviation prowess above our heads while Earl and the band played. Last year’s weather on Saturday was somewhat marginal with heavy fog and temperatures in the upper 50s. That wasn’t the case this year, as it was bright, sunny and warm….well for San Francisco at least (temps were in the mid 60’s)!

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is always held the first full weekend in October out here in San Francisco. Make plans now for next year’s event – it’s truly an unforgettable experience! Attendance was estimated at 230,000 people today with music spread out on four large stages located throughout the central meadow at Golden Gate Park.

Photos by Gretchen Snyder and Steve Stolzenburg

Earl Scruggs	Alan Munde	Tony Trischka	Bill Evans
Banjo Extravaganza Trischka, Evans, Brown Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

She’ll perform during the 9:00-9:30 p.m. and 12:30-1:00 a.m. segments, and though the Opry schedule doesn’t say so, it’s safe to presume that she will have her Quartet in tow.

Tune in on WSM 650 AM out of Nashville, or catch the live WSM audio stream online to hear the program, which runs from 7:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 23.

The new CD from Dale Ann Bradley, Catch Tomorrow, surely falls into this category. Even in a long career filled with stellar recordings, this new project really catches the ear.

Many observers have noted that with as pure a voice as Dale Ann possess, and such a knack for choosing material suited for its strengths, she must only lack the support of a top notch band, and a record label willing and able to promote her, to see some legitimate success in this business.

The bands she has had for several years, and like so many in bluegrass, the membership is ever changing. Catch Tomorrow features primarily the members who contributed this past few years, like Michael Cleveland, Jesse Brock and Pete Kelly now departed, with Brock moving to Europe to marry and make music, and Cleveland and Kelly forming Michael’s new Flamekeeper band with Audie Blaylock. She now has vets Deanie Richardson and Scott Napier on the road with her and long-time bassist Vicki Simmons, and a new banjo hire is anticipated shortly.

With Catch Tomorrow, her debut collaboration with Compass Records, there is hope that the business partnership side of the equation is in place as well. This new release was produced by Compass founder and President, Alison Brown, who also contributes her banjo on several tracks. Dale Ann gives great credit to Brown for help with song selection and arranging, and it could be argued that this is the most cohesive and start-to-finish strong project from Bradley to date.

Much of the strongest material comes from Dale Ann herself, with autobiographical touches on songs like Run Rufus Run and Grandma’s Gift that tell as much about the world she grew up in as it does the actual characters in the stories. There is also a simply marvelous country-style duet with Marty Rabon on the old Dolly and Porter song, Holding On To Nothing, and a sparse and moving Gospel duet with Larry Sparks on Pass Me Not.

Dale Ann’s web site offers a few audio samples from the new release, and a pre-order option exists. It isn’t clear whether the orders can be shipped right away, or will arrive after the release date, but they are being accepted online now.

We have a terrific interview with Dale Ann which will be the subject of an upcoming episode of The GrassCast. It will be available here on The Bluegrass Blog and to all GrassCast subscribers closer to the official release date for the new CD (October 10). She talks at some length about her early days performing in Renfro Valley, KY and with The Coon Creek Girls as well as her more recent musical endeavors.

Be sure to keep an eye out for that GrassCast, and the release of Catch Tomorrow.

Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys will also be featured in the 9:30-10:00 p.m. slot.

You can catch WSM 650 AM over the air, or listen via online streaming, to hear the entire Opry broadcast, which runs from 7:30 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. (EST).

Bradley, who has recorded previously for Pinecastle, Dobbie Shea, and Mountain Home, will start work on her Compass debut later this year, with no solid plans for a release date announced at this time.