Yesterday (Friday 6/13) I received a note from John Lilly, the editor of Goldenseal (the magazine of West Virginia traditional life) and multi-talented acoustic music performer, telling me about what’s on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Mountain Stage show this coming week.

The programme schedule includes the recording of a show taped on March 16 in Beckley, West Virginia, featuring top band Blue Highway, the inimitable Larry Sparks, award-winning banjo and slide guitar player Tony Furtado, folk artist Carrie Newcomer and John Lilly, himself.

The show was shipped to 120 radio stations worldwide yesterday and will air locally in those markets during the coming week.

To find a station near you that carries the Mountain Stage programme visit the website.

Playlist details can be found elsewhere on the Mountain Stage website. The show will be available on-line for download in about two weeks time.

Footnote:

Lilly edited Mountains of Music: West Virginia Traditional Music from Goldenseal, the excellent collection of profiles of some of the state’s most colourful folk musicians from said magazine - University of Illinois Press.

Blue Highway has found itself once again in the pages of Guitar Player magazine, surely among the most widely-circulated periodicals for musicians in the world.

Resonator guitarist Rob Ickes was profiled in those pages in February of 2007, and both he and Tim Stafford are interviewed in the June 2008 issue.

The focus of the article is on the pair’s musicianship, as you might imagine, particularly with reference to the band’s new CD, Through The Window Of A Train. Rob and Tim answer questions about the instruments they used in the studio, how the recording was structured and even how they came up with specific solos.

Were any songs particularly difficult to get recorded?

Ickes: This record fell into place really easily. There’s a tricky melody on The North Cove, and that’s one that I definitely worked on it some before we went into teh studio. Tim plays some great lead guitar breaks on that one.

Stafford: This was the easiest record we’ve made. V-Bottom Boat took as long to record as it takes to listen to it. That’s live with one mic - first take.

As of this morning (6/2) the content at GuitarPlayer.com had not yet been updated online, but you can see a PDF of the article on the Blue Highway site. [link will open as an Adobe Acrobat file]

MiND TV, based in Philadelphia, PA, is an independent public television initiative with an interesting twist. All of the content which is broadcast on TV (Channel 34 in Philly) or streamed online is made up of 5 minute segments.

Four segments have recently been produced that feature Blue Highway. Each begins with a portion of the short documentary on the band produced by Craig Havighurst - which can be viewed in its entirety here on The Bluegrass Blog - followed by a live performance of one song from a live concert.

There is no link that will take you to all four Blue Highway clips, but you can follow the four links below to watch them online.

• Wondrous Love
• Little Maggie
• I Hung My Head
• Cold Harbor

Audio clips from their newest CD, Through The Window Of A Train, on their web site.

CMT.com’s Country Music Blog has just published Merlefest remembrances from three bluegrass artists. Rhonda Vincent, Blue Highway (Tim Stafford) and Sierra Hull share some thoughts about last weekend’s mega-fest in North Wilkesboro, NC.

Sierra had an especially poignant memory to cherish from Merlefest ‘08.

“One thing that was particularly exciting about this year’s Merlefest is that it was the first in which I’ve had my new album, Secrets (out May 6 on Rounder) for sale. Upon arriving to the festival Friday morning, I had not even seen a final packaged copy of the record yet. They were shipped directly there, hot off the printer! It was quite funny then having someone in the crowd bring me a copy to sign — that was my first time seeing it!”

Read all of these posts at CMT.com.

Starting this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. (4/11 - EDT) there will be four opportunities to catch Blue Highway live on SIRIUS Bluegrass over the next few days. They will perform material from their latest CD, Through The Window Of A Train, whose title track has been voted #1 on SIRIUS for three weeks running.

After this afternoon’s airing, the Blue Highway show will be rebroadcast as follows (all times EDT):

• Saturday (4/12) at 10:00 p.m.
• Sunday (4/13) at 5:00 p.m.
• Monday (4/14) at noon

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.

Music Of Coal - Various Artists (Lonesome Records & Publishing CD 071); two CDs with 70 page book, released in 2007

The work of coal miners has long been commemorated in song, disasters have led to contemporaneous ballad type songs and personal acquaintance with victims of the industry has led to intense, heart-rending insights into the side-effects of working below ground. Many songs have been found during song-catcher expeditions - some of those recording are found here, others have been written by those with a social conscience as a form of protest at times of strife. As well as embracing the social ramifications, political, historic and economic aspects of life in coal mining communities.

The industry ‘captured’ labour at a very young age and the picture of a disheveled youngster on the cover is a evidence of that. It’s a refection of the level of poverty for the often big families that boys had to go to work in the mines to help boost their father’s income. There has seemingly been very little scope for avoiding the pits. Not many people have been able to follow Ron Short’s advice in Set Yourself Free.

The collection is sub-titled Mining Songs From The Appalachian Coalfields and, in fact, the music chosen is pared down to music from southern Appalachia and to that by local talent. There is a mixture of styles - big band, jazz, old-time (in its various sub-sets, including string band), traditional country, bluegrass, folk, blues, boogie-woogie and choral.

Also, the performances are by people from a variety of classes; miners, labour organisers, activists, religious leaders and professional musicians. The quality of these vary, just as the sound quality of the recordings themselves vary, but some tracks do feature well known pickers; Mike Seeger, Jimmy Gaudreau, Jim Watson, Wayne Benson, Robert Bowlin, Glen Duncan, Mike Bubb, Jamie Johnson and Jimmy Mattingly included.

The recordings themselves span a century, beginning with the opening song on the first disc - Down In A Coal Mine an excerpt from The Edison Concert Band and made in 1908. Other recordings from the early part of the last century include Mining Camp Blues by Trixie Smith (1925); He’s Only A Miner Killed In The Ground -Ted Chestnut (1928); Coal Miner’s Blues - The Carter Family (1938) and Sprinkle Coal Dust On My Grave - Orville Jenks (1940), sung to the same melody as Sunny Side Of The Mountain. (more…)

Blue Highway will be the featured guest on this week’s edition of Studio Special on XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction. They join host Kyle Cantrell for some live music from their new CD, Through the Window of a Train, and discussion about the songs, all of which were written within the band.

The show will run six times over the next week, starting with the debut airing at 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning (3/28). Cantrell tells us that these multiple airings are placed in very different time slots to offer convenient opportunities for folks in the various time zones - and on different work/listening schedules.

Here’s the run down (all times EDT).

Not only is Blue Highway one of the finest live bands in bluegrass, they are also deft and thoughtful songwriters. Both the performance and the songwriting chat should be enlightening for serious fans and students of this music.

Blue Highway will join host Kyle Cantrell on XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction for a track-by-track rundown of their new release, Through the Window of a Train.

Kyle will be playing all the selections from the new CD, interspersed with discussions with the members of the band. All of the songs were written within the group, so expect a good bit of songwriting detail in the conversation.

The Blue Highway show will debut on Thursday (2/21) at 8:00 a.m., with encore presentations airing on Sunday (2/24) at noon, Tuesday (2/26) at 3:00 p.m. and Thursday (2/28) at 8:00 p.m. All times Eastern.

The guys also recently recorded a live performance and interview program for Bluegrass Junction, which is set to air as a Studio Special program in March.

In another XM programming note, they will be re-playing the Grasstowne interview from last week again tomorrow based on numerous listener requests. Look for that on 2/21 at 6:00 p.m.

Blue Highway releases their new CD, Through The Window Of A Train today. You can find our post with links to the audio samples here.

We also previously posted video footage, provided by our friends at Lotos Nile, of the first track from the CD. Today we’ve got another video clip for you, from the same event.

This was filmed at the BMI offices in Nashville, several weeks ago. It was shot hand held from the audience while the guys were playing live with no sound system, but it should give you an idea of the material you’ll find on this new CD.

Here is the title track of the CD, Through the Window of a Train.

Blue Highway is soon (Feb 12, 2008) to release their new CD, Through The Window Of A Train. We posted a link to the audio samples from the CD when they became available, but now we’ve got one better than that.

Our friends at Lotos Nile recently attended a Blue Highway performance at the BMI offices in Nashville. With digital camcorder in hand they captured the event and graciously allowed us to present some of the video here so our readers could get a taste for the new CD prior to it’s release next week.

Over the course of the next week, we’ll be posting several videos from the event. Each video will feature a different song from the record. Be sure to check back here for the other videos.

This first video is for the tune Life of a Traveling Man. Enjoy…

There are now audio samples on the Rounder Records site from the new Blue Highway CD, Through the Window of a Train.

It isn’t due for release until February 12, but you will have a chance to hear many of the tracks during the Goin’ Across The Mountain show on WNCW this Saturday afternoon (2/2). Host Dennis Jones will be playing one song from the new CD each hour while the show is on the air (11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.), and Tim Stafford will join Dennis for some discussion about the new project in the 2:00 hour.

Dennis expects to play 4 or 5 more songs from Through the Window of a Train while Tim - and perhaps a couple other members of Blue Highway - are in the studio.

WNCW broadcasts in four North Carolina markets, and can also be heard online via live audio streaming.

The new Blue Highway CD, Through The Window Of A Train, won’t be officially released on Rounder until February 12, but the band now has copies for sale at their shows.

They’ll be hosting a CD release event at Nashville’s Station Inn this Thursday (1/24), and will have the new CD with them there - and at all future shows as well.

I’ve had a chance to listen to the CD several times, and as you might expect, the songs are clever and well-constructed, the arrangements are varied but always appropriate, and the performances are stirring and flawlessly executed. All the songs were written by band members, and this time out they produced the recording themselves, offering a look at how the band personally envisions this music.

My only complaint is that there is no Tim Stafford wild west ballad, though there is a fine cowboy song in My Ropin’ Days Are Done.

You can watch the video they prepared about the making of Through The Window Of A Train here, and read some of Tim’s comments about the songs and the recording process here and here.

There are still no audio samples online, but you can expect them to appear on the Rounder site shortly.

Bluegrass super group Blue Highway is about to release their latest CD, Through the Window of a Train.

With the release coming in February, they’ve just released a short (under 8 minutes) video EPK. The video was produced by Nashville filmmaker Craig Havighurst of String Theory Media. The band narrates along with comments from Sam Bush, The Infamous Stringdusters, and others. We hope you will watch the whole thing.

Thanks to Rounder Records and Blue Highway for choosing The Bluegrass Blog to host this video online.

Rounder Records has set February 12, 2008 as the release date for Through the Window of a Train, the next CD from Blue Highway.

Blessed with three notable singers and songwriters, Blue Highway is rarely in need of material, and this new project is made up entirely of songs written within the band - their second CD with this distinction.

One of them, Tim Stafford, who I would put forward as perhaps the most thoughtful and insightful songwriter in and around bluegrass, shared a few words about the title track from the new CD.

“Through The Window Of A Train is one that I wrote with Steve Gulley. It was a title I had laying around and we thought it would make a strong song idea. The concept was a fellow—prompted by the anonymity of modern interstate travel—remembering his youth and what it was like to travel on that train with his Dad, the wonder of watching the world go by…

It may be an old theme in bluegrass, but it turned out to be upbeat and poignant at the same time, which is usually a good combination. I was certain we had ripped off some other melody at first!

Melody and feel-wise, I had the Country Gentlemen of the 1970s in mind - one of the most influential bands for me.”

You can read some of Tim’s other comments about the new CD in an interview we ran earlier this year.

One truly remarkable thing about Blue Highway is the fact that, entering their 14th year as a professional touring act, they still perform and record with the same membership with which they began. Though banjo player Jason Burleson briefly stepped aside in 1999 only to return shortly thereafter, there has been no turnover in personnel.

In addition to Stafford on guitar and Burleson on banjo, the band is made up of Rob Ickes on resonator guitar, Shawn Lane on mandolin/fiddle and Wayne Taylor on bass.

Tim also mentioned that 2008 is shaping up to be a very busy year for the band, with new dates still being added to their schedule.

We caught up recently with Tim Stafford of Blue Highway, and got a few more details about their upcoming Rounder CD.

Tim says that the project is expected to be titled Through The Window of a Train, and he speaks with pride of the material - all written by band members. He rates the songs as some of their very best to date, and this CD will be the band’s second all-original project.

A February 2008 release date is still projected.

Read more about this next Blue Highway CD in our earlier discussion with Tim.

Music of Coal: Mining Songs from the Appalachian Coalfields is a new two-CD box set released by the Lonesome Pine Office on Youth here in Virginia.

The set contains 48 songs covering topics from coal mining history to union organization. The set was produced by Jack Wright who also wrote the extensive liner notes, which are contained in nicely printed book accompanied by historical photographs of the coal industry.

Songs were contributed to the project by such artists as Ralph Stanley, Dwight Yoakam, Natalie Merchant, Tom T. Hall, Blue Highway and the Carter Family.

The set can be purchased for $35 directly from the Lonesome Pine Office on Youth. Supplies are limited to 5000 units so they won’t be available forever.

Here’s a description of the Lonesome Pine Office on Youth and their mission.

The Lonesome Pine Office on Youth advocates for the needs of youth and families with the objectives of positive youth development, empowerment of families to solve their own problems effectively, identification and coordination of local resources, and through these efforts, the creation of safe and healthy communities which prevent delinquency.

Here’s an update on a story we reported back in April…

When we passed along news that Blue Highway’s 8th CD was in the works, Tim Stafford suggested that it might be released later this year. Word now comes that Rounder is looking at a release in February, 2008.

The recording is now finished and the tracks are being mastered by Bill Wolf, with all 12 songs written or co-written by members of Blue Highway, the second band release with this all-original focus.

You can read more about this new project - with comments from Tim Stafford - in our earlier post.

Great news for Blue Highway fans - their next CD project should be out later this year. They have resigned with Rounder Records and this will be their 4th Rounder CD, and 8th album release as a band.

Blue Highway has seen their popularity in bluegrass grow steadily over more than ten years in the business, while managing to keep the membership almost wholly intact over that time. For what started out to be an occasional, part-time venture, having the same personnel with which they started is remarkable in and of itself. Despite original banjo player Jason Burleson having left the group for a time (replaced by ace banjo man Tom Adams for one CD), the band has been remarkably stable in a business where such stability is increasingly rare.

Guitarist Tim Stafford shared some thoughts about this upcoming project, as yet untitled. He said that this time out, they will be recording at Maggard Studio in Big Stone Gap, VA where so many legendary Ralph Stanley recordings were made.

“We just wanted something a little closer to home - for four of us anyway. We recorded all seven of our previous albums in Nashville, which always meant a lot of lodging expenses. This time, it’s only Rob who has to get a room, although Jason sometimes will too–he’s about 3 hours away from Big Stone. There was also the thought of trying something a little different, and saving some money! But we aren’t sacrificing quality–Jim Price, our engineer, is top-notch and everybody loves the feel of Maggard’s.”

Tim mentioned that they have 8 songs finished, all of them originals written within the band, and I wondered if that was their intention for this project.

“I don’t think anyone has written material just for this record–in fact, we’ve always just come to the table and pitched what the writers have been working on. One thing we used to do and I wish we did more of now is write together–seems like we’re too tired to do it when we’re on the road, and when we’re off it’s time to decompress. (more…)

If you didn’t catch Shawn Lane, Wayne Taylor and Tim Stafford of Blue Highway singing the pre-race National Anthem at the Bristol Motor Speedway on April 24, you can watch a web video of them on YouTube.

They had been invited to sing before the Sharpie Mini 300, and offered up a fine version of The Star Spangled Banner.

Watch the video at YouTube.

A reminder and a correction regarding Blue Highway singing the National Anthem before this afternoon’s NASCAR Busch race in Bristol, TN…

Look for Shawn Lane,  Tim Stafford and Wayne Taylor to kick off the race with the Star Spangled Banner shortly after the telecast begins at 3:00 p.m. (eastern) on Saturday, March 24.

When we first mentioned this about a week ago, we passed along some bad info. The race is being broadcast on ABC, and not Fox as we had it originally.