We heard this morning from Ashby Frank, mandolinist with Special Consensus, with some further details about the band’s next release.

He says that they have only recently finished recording (at Brent Truitt’s studio in Nashville) with guest appearances by Tim Crouch on fiddle, Randy Kohrs on resophonic guitar and Sonya Isaacs on harmony vocals.

Special Consensus is made up of founding member Greg Cahill on banjo, Justin Carbone on guitar, David Thomas on bass and Frank on mandolin.

Much of the material comes from within the band. Justin co-wrote three songs, and Ashby two. There is also a new instrumental co-authored by Frank and Cahill. Other featured writers include Ronnie Bowman, Don Cook, Curly Putman, Adam and Shannon Wright, Ron Spears, Don Reid, Troy Engle, Becky Buller and Jake Landers.

The title of the new CD will be Signs, and an early ‘09 release is expected on Pinecastle.

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.

We received an interesting correspondence last night from Ashby Frank, mandolinist with Special Consensus.

He had just gotten a call from Rhonda Vincent asking if he might be able to fill her spot on stage this week, as she is at home recuperating from a bout with bronchitis that forced her to cancel shows over the weekend.

The deal is, Rhonda’s been under the weather this week, so she asked me to fill in with her band the Rage at a private event for Martha White in Houston on Wednesday. Rhonda and her husband Herb insisted that I have to wear one of her outfits, unless I can learn all of the words to her songs by Wednesday.

I think I can pull it off… How do I look?

APRIL FOOLS!

In all seriousness, I’m honored to be filling in for a day with Rhonda’s great band (in my own clothes), and I’m looking forward to it!

From Houston, I’ll be heading for Chicago for a “special” Special C show at Fitzgerald’s Night Club with the legendary Howard Levy (bluegrass folks may know him for his harmonica and sax work with Bela Fleck) and that’s no joke!

The Mashville Brigade may not be that familiar a name to most festival going bluegrass fans, but the individual members of the band should be. The Brigade is comprised of: Aaron McDaris (The Grascals) on banjo and harmony vocals; Darrell Webb (Rhonda Vincent & The Rage) on guitar and lead vocals; Ashby Frank (Special Consensus) lead vocals and mandolin; Jim VanCleve (Mountain Heart) on fiddle; and Randy Barnes (NewFound Road) on bass.

The Brigade is today’s modern version of the Sidemen. Started a year or so ago as a fun midweek gig at The Station Inn in Nashville, The Mashville Brigade releases it’s first CD on April 22, 2008. The CD is produced by the band’s own Jim VanCleve, and contains 16 tracks, all of them standard bluegrass hits. Bearing the title Bluegrass Smash Hits, Volume 1, this disc is the first in a new series of releases planned by Rural Rhythm Records.

Ashby Frank commented on the genesis of the group.

I’ve gotten to pick with these guys at various festivals and in the halls and rooms of events like IBMA, SPBMGA, and the Galax Fiddlers Convention for years. Since we both grew up in North Carolina, I’ve known Jim for the longest, actually before I even really got into Bluegrass. The first time I ever played on a Bluegrass Festival stage was with Jim in Denton, NC. I think we put together a band with my sister and opened up the festival on a Tuesday or Wednesday night.

Randy, Darrell, Jim, Aaron and myself have performed with each other as a part of quite a few different collaborations, through fill-in work or special events like the MACC Festival in Columbus, OH. Once all of us had moved to Nashville, we talked about getting something together to play around town and maybe a festival or two. It took us a few years to get together, but it’s finally worked out, and it’s a whole lot of fun.

The band started basically as a new version of the Sidemen, the infamous group that used to perform every Tuesday night at the Station Inn. The Mashville Brigade started filling that same time slot and as Jim VanCleve tells it, one thing just led to another.

The Mashville Brigade has really grown into something much larger than we ever could have anticipated from when we first began playing at the Station Inn a little over a year ago. It all basically started as an outlet for us to have some fun while playing the music we all grew up on. But since the bluegrass culture around Nashville is really a pretty tight-knit bunch of friends, we suddenly had a good sized audience each Tuesday night, full of friends and family, in a room that is known for bringing out the best in people. This comfortable atmosphere really allowed the music to grow and take on it’s own unique personality. It was really starting to blow up, and the crowds just kept getting better each week. So, after some time, we started thinking, “this band really needs to record something”! Now, after listening back to the masters of the Mashville Brigade’s first album, I can honestly say that we are all very happy with what we were able to do!

The CD was recorded in a rather unique manner for the age we live in. The guys met at the Station Inn, their primary creative outlet, during the daylight hours and tracked the entire thing in under 8 hours with no overdubs. (more…)

Ashby Frank is a talented musician who, despite his youth, has already been a part of several notable ensembles. At 24 years old, Ashby - who is the current mandolinist with Special Consensus - has toured with Marty Raybon, Alecia Nugent and Ronnie Bowman.

He lives in Nashville, which necessitates a lot of travel since Special C is based in Chicago, but Ashby feels that Music City offers him a great many opportunities for session work and musical interaction that he can’t find elsewhere.

One of those offshoots is Mashville Brigade, a loose-knit group of sidemen who get together on Tuesday nights at Nashville’s fabled Station Inn. Members include Frank on mandolin, Darrel Webb on guitar, Jim Van Cleve on fiddle, Greg Martin on bass and Aaron McDarris on banjo. They typically perform bluegrass classics, but have developed a strong following based as much on their quirky, irreverent sense of humor as for their prodigious musical abilities.

One of those special talents is vocal impressions, and a recent YouTube video demonstrates that Ashby and Darrell have the goods to give such stalwarts of the genre as Tim Stafford and Steve Gulley a run for their money. The video is a bit shaky but the audio is fine, and their take on John Conlee and Willie Nelson is hilarious.

Ashby tells us that this side project has been a blast for all concerned, allowing the members to have some fun outside of their primary gigs. Webb now tours with Rhonda Vincent, Van Cleve is a part of Mountain Heart and McDarris plays with The Grascals, so a Tuesday night playing bluegrass favorites is a welcome weekly diversion.

We’ve been doing the Mashville Brigade thing for over a year, and we’re all really happy that it’s turned into one of the biggest nights of the week at the Station Inn. Every Tuesday is kind of like a party/family reunion.

So many people have requested some kind of recorded music from us, and fortunately the great folks over at Rural Rhythm found a way for us to do that. (more…)

Brance posted on Tuesday about the special Station Inn performance this week by Mashville Brigade and friends.

The band was initially formed late in ‘06 by Ashby Frank and a number of other hot young pickers when Frank was living in Nashville and working with Alecia Nugent’s band. It included Jim Van Cleve on fiddle, Darrel Webb on guitar, Greg Martin on bass, Aaron McDaris on banjo and Frank on mandolin. Their plan was to play at Nashville’s Station Inn on occasional Tuesday evenings, much as a group know as The Sidemen had done a few years ago, assembled from members of other Nashville-based bluegrass bands.

Now that Ashby is off touring with Special Consensus, the membership at Mashville Brigade shows fluctuates wildly, and the show this past Tuesday was set to feature a number of high-profile guests, including Scott Vestal and Josh Williams.

We hear that even more unexpected special guests were on hand, and before the evening was concluded, country star Dierks Bentley joined the band for a song, as did Shawn Camp and Tina Adair. Sounds like a night of good fun and great music.

Ashby actually emailed from the Salt Lake City airport, to say that he had hated to miss that show, but had an interesting one of his own.

“Special Consensus did a show with the Idaho State Civic Symphony in Pocatello, Idaho last night in their beautiful new symphony/performing arts center. It went over amazingly well!

The crowd gave us such a warm reception, and called us out for an encore. It’s not every day that a symphony plays a full set with a Bluegrass band (we played a few new songs by ourselves, but did most of the set with the symphony), and its not every day that a bluegrass band plays in Pocatello, ID!”

For many years now the legend of the Sidemen has lived on even though the group no longer performs at Nashville’s Station Inn.

In recent months, a new group of sidemen have come together to fill the void. They call themselves the Mashville Brigade. The group performs most Tuesday nights at The Station Inn and consists of pickers who all play in different bands on the road.

The line up may not be exactly the same every night if one or more of the guys has a gig somewhere, but the group more or less consists of Aaron McDaris (banjo), Ashby Frank (mandolin), Darrel Webb (guitar), Greg Martin or Randall Barnes (bass), and Jim VanCleve (fiddle).

The group makes an effort to play a strait up hard driving bluegrass setlist each Tuesday night, entertaining the crowd of hardcore fans who turn out for the shows.

Tonight, the line up will be a little different, as the band welcomes a few friends to the stage to “Mash” one with them.

At tonight’s show, band will be:

Josh Williams - guitar and vocals (formerly of Rhonda Vincent)
Darrel Webb - Mandolin and vocals (Currently with Rhonda Vincent)
Tim Dishman - Bass (Special Consensus)
Scott Vestal - Banjo (Sam Bush Band)
Jim VanCleve - Fiddle (Mountain Heart)
Daren Shumaker - sound engineer (Ronnie Bowman & Mountain Heart)

We’re expecting a fun crowd and a lot of energy, as we just recently fronted a show for Dierks Bently (where he graciously gave the Mashville Brigade a glowing review from the stage) at a Charity event in Nashville. You just never know who’s gonna drop in and mash one or two with the band, too, so it’s usually pretty interesting!

The Station Inn has dubbed the Mashville Brigade shows as $5 Tuesdays. The cover charge, pizzas, and pitchers of beer are each $5. If you’re in town, be sure to stop by and watch the guys Mash one!

We just heard from Greg Cahill, founder and fearless leader of Special Consensus.

Greg tells us that Ashby Frank has been hired as mandolinist and vocalist with the band, taking the spot to be vacated when Ron Spears departs to join Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Ashby had been working with Alecia Nugent, and had previously spent time with Ronnie Bowman and Marty Rabon.

Says Greg of their most recent member:

“We are very excited about having such a superb musician and friend join our ranks!”

A specific date for the switch has not been announced, but Ashby is expected to begin touring with Special C sometime this summer.

Yesterday (5/15) was also the official release date of the newest Special Consensus CD, The Trail Of Aching Hearts on Pinecastle Records which Brance previewed in a brief interview with Cahill this March.

You can find audio samples from The Trail Of Aching Hearts on the Special C MySpace page, or on the Pinecastle site. The CD is also available (with samples) in the iTunes Music Store.

UPDATE 4:10 p.m.: Ashby just emailed to tell us that his first gig with Special C will be June 13 at Bean Blossom.

Saturday night I took the wife and attended the Alecia Nugent concert in nearby New Castle, Virginia. It should be no surprise that Alecia put on a great show, she’s won awards recently from both IBMA and SPBGMA for her singing. She’s also a fine entertainer. And what a band! With Andy Falco on guitar, Ashby Frank on mandolin, Thomas Wywrot on banjo, and Jennifer Strickland on bass added to Alecia’s vocals, you’ve got a recipe for some great bluegrass music.

The first set opened with the Osborne Brothers standby Listening To The Rain, and a fair number of other standards were sprinkled throughout both sets making for a pleasant mixture of traditional and original tunes. Breaking from accepted practice, Alecia honored a request and ended the first set with a slow sad song from her self titled first CD. The title of the song is Paper and Pen. If you haven’t heard it, you can find audio samples on Rounder’s website. Be warned, it’s a sad one.

Let me give you my impressions about the band Alecia has touring with her now.

I’ve known Andy Falco for several years and have been a fan of his guitar playing since I first heard him set pick to string. Saturday night Andy got an enthusiastic response from the crowd on nearly every guitar solo. There is just something about his bluesy, downstroke driven, aggressive style that has something of Monroe’s mandolin style in it.

Ashby Frank has been a good mandolin player for a long time and he’s only 23, but Saturday night I was really struck by the economy of movement in his right had. I was sitting in the front row and could really see the ease with which he played. It’s very enjoyable to watch a musician with that kind of control over their instrument. I rest easy in the knowledge that bluegrass music will continue to grow, expand, and excel into the future in the capable hands of young pickers like this.

Thomas Wywrot I had known as a guitar player, but I was quite impressed with his ability on the banjo. He was driving and aggressive without being overbearing. He worked the mic like a pro making plenty of room for the guitar and mandolin in the mix. During the first set he played an original instrumental of his own composition that I didn’t catch the name of, but it was an enjoyable tune that got the crowd stirred up nicely.

Jennifer Strickland I didn’t know before Saturday night. I was pleasantly surprised to find she is Missouri girl. Having grown up outside KC myself, I always get a kick out of meeting another Missourian on the bluegrass circuit. She did a great job on the bass and harmony vocals all evening.

And that’s just the band. Alecia herself lived up to her title as the Traditional Female Vocalist of the Year, as recently awarded by SPBGMA. If you’re a fan of good bluegrass singing, you need to make a point to go hear Alecia.

Overall this was a great show. The material was good, the performance was great, the MC work (shared by the entire band) was funny and entertaining, and the whole experience was enjoyable. If Alecia and band happen to be in your area (tour schedule is on her website), I encourage to take the opportunity to go hear some fine bluegrass music from this award winning singer and her band.

We heard last week from mandolinist Ashby Frank with word of a new “second band” featuring members of several Nashville-based bluegrass acts.

They are calling themselves Mashville Brigade, and they debuted at The Station Inn on December 5. Ashby said that they have more dates there in January, and hope to move into a semi-regular Tuesday night slot there next year.

The group consists of Frank (with Alecia Nugent’s band) on mandolin, Darrel Webb (of Wildfire) on guitar, Jim VanCleve (of Mountain Heart) on fiddle, Greg Martin on bass, and Aaron McDaris (the newest member of The Grascals) on banjo.

The new band got a nice feature in The Nashville City Paper last week, in which Ashby shared an insight into the name of the group.

“In bluegrass circles we always talk about really getting into something and mashing it,” Frank said. “We’re going to be playing bluegrass styled music, but it will be very upbeat, a party type rather than more staid or traditional material. We’re not a jam band, but we will be playing an explosive, enjoyable brand of acoustic music.”

Ashby told us that they will perform material from the various members’ solo projects, and bluegrass jam classics.