Here’s something you don’t see every day…  a bluegrass band celebrating a 15th anniversary – with the same personnel with which they launched.

Blue Highway played their first show on New Year’s Eve in 1994 with Tim Stafford on guitar, Shawn Lane on mandolin, Wayne Taylor on bass, Jason Burleson on banjo and Rob Ickes on resonator guitar. With that 15th anniversary drawing nigh, the band consists of these same 5 musicians, a testament both to the five of them as individuals, and to the way they run the group.

True, Burleson did take about a year off in the late ’90s (with Tom Adams filling the void), but he returned in short order and has never looked back.

Blue Highway has always been run as a true democratic entity, with all band decisions being made by equal votes among the members. No one is the leader, though they may each take the lead in certain tasks a band must perform. These guys obviously understand the value of the whole, and have kept egos from destroying something this unique and fine for 15 years – no small feat, that.

When the band got started, their intention was for it to be a part time venture. Tim Stafford had recently left Alison Krauss & Union Station, and Rob Ickes had left Lynn Morris, and neither wanted to be back on the road full time. After their first two Rebel releases, demand was such that a return to the highway was indicated, and that was the direction they took.

The band has a page on their web site dedicated to this anniversary year, with an extensive array of photos from over the years collected and sent in by fans. Rounder is set to release an anniversary CD, and a special anniversary concert is scheduled for December 18.

The CD, Some Day: Fifteenth Anniversary Collection (1/19/10), will include 13 tracks. 9 are culled from the band’s 4 previous Rounder albums, 1 comes from an Ickes solo project, 2 are fresh songs, newly recorded, and 1 is a re-recording of the title track, an enduring staple of their live show.

The full track listing follows (new tracks *):

The concert on 12/18 was as close as they could get to New Year’s Eve. It will be held in Roanoke, VA at the historic Jefferson Center at 7:30 p.m. Scheduled to be a festive affair, the band is eager to celebrate their anniversary with fans and friends before closing their touring for 2009 and heading off to spend the Christmas season with loved ones.

They expect to have copies of the new CD at the Anniversary Show, and concertgoers who purchase the VIP ticket will receive an autographed copy at the show, along with an invitation to attend the post-show reception.

Hats off to Blue Highway – here’s to 15 more!

Ross Nickerson is well known as a banjo instructor. His Banjo Encyclopedia book and multiple DVDs have been used by thousands of students of our beloved 5 string, and his camps and workshops are well attended all over the US (and the 7 seas).

You would expect such a prolific teacher to also be a fine player, and that he is, but so much time is dedicated to offering lessons and running his online business (BanjoTeacher.com) that Ross only rarely has the chance to record.

A new CD has just been released, featuring 14 bluegrass instrumental favorites, with the non-banjo playing members of Blue Highway serving as his rhythm section. He chose as the title, Let’s Kick Some Ass, a phrase he has used to motivate himself for years.

“It’s an expression I’ve used to get the band pumped up before a show. ‘Let’s go out and kick some ass.’ I play my best when my adrenalin is flowing, the same way it did when I played athletics when I was younger. That is really where that comes from I think…football practice. It’s meant to be upbeat and fun, and to say, ‘we are going to get after these songs with everything we have and hold nothing back.’ “

The songs should be familiar to most bluegrass or banjo music fans, coming from the repertoire of Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Flatt & Scruggs… and the Gershwin Brothers.

“I wanted the CD to be very up beat. I tried to chose material that I felt we could really dig in to, songs that were straight forward and flowed easily. Many of the songs I knew we would all be familiar with and could play with experience on first take. Although I did cut two originals, and the band played those on the first try every bit as strong as the material they were already familiar with.

From a practical standpoint we cut 14 songs in two days without any rehearsal. That was another thing that I thought would help the overall sound of the CD, a more live approach, not too perfected or watered down. By cutting the songs in the first few takes I think you have a better chance at a CD that feels fresh and sounds real.” (more…)

This is the third in our series of 2009 Red Carpet videos. These were filmed immediately prior to the IBMA Award Show.

This one features Katy Daley interviewing Jason Burleson of Blue Highway.

One of the television attractions for April is the PBS documentary series Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People. The four-part series begins on April 9 and continues on each subsequent Thursday until the end of the month.

Already released (on April 1) is the companion soundtrack CD entitled Appalachia: Music From Home (on Lonesome Records).

The CD features such artists Ralph and Nathan Stanley, Art Stamper, James Allen Shelton, Jean Ritchie, Dock Boggs, Carl Martin, and contemporary songwriters Darrell Scott, Robin and Linda Williams; and Blue Highway; and youthful artistes such as The Midnight Ramblers, Molly Slemp, Clack Mountain String Band, Evan Carawan and Mitch Barratt.

Some of the tracks – Pretty Saro (Jean Ritchie), Midnight on the Water (Art Stamper), Soldiers Joy (James Allen Shelton), Union Man (Blue Highway), Gloryland (the Stanleys) and Don’t Let Me Come Home A Stranger (Robin and Linda Williams) – included have been taken from earlier projects. Others – such as The Blackest Crow (Molly Slemp), Shady Grove (Mitch Barrett) and Banjo Clark (Darrell Scott) – are recent recordings apparently done for the film.

Appalachia: Music From Home is funded in part by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, The Appalachia Regional Commission, The C Bascam Slemp Foundation and the Wise County, Virginia Board of Supervisors.

Check your local stations for more details regarding broadcasting times for Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People.