Two shows are scheduled: Saturday (11/21) from 2:00-8:00 p.m. at Bob Mackey’s Music World in Wilder, KY and Sunday (11/22) from 2:00-9:00 p.m. at the Freedom Worship Center in Franklin, OH. The shows are both billed as The Weekend For Jim, with suggested donations of $10 to help defray his medical expenses.

Several bands will play each day, and door prizes will be awarded at both shows. Banjo man Johnny Butten will also be on hand to attempt a new Guinness record for the longest continuous playing of the banjo.

If you are unable to attend the shows and would like to make a donation, they can be sent to:

The Class Act Canada contest will award 10 deserving students from around the world with an all-expenses-paid education at Sprott-Shaw Community College in British Columbia, Canada. Currently in Round 2, contestants upload videos describing their educational goals, and the top 20 vote-getters will advance to the final round. Currently in the top 20 with around 70,000 votes is one of British Columbia’s top bluegrass musicians, Cluny Macpherson, from the band Flash in the Pan.

His current video shows off his banjo chops while making the case that music is also good medicine – Cluny intends to work in the field of geriatric nursing, and his band is always happy to drop in on area nursing homes to help lift the spirits of elderly residents.

If Cluny gets in the final round – and we can help him get there with our votes – judges will pick the 10 winners using several criteria, one of which is being able to use “social networking sites, video-sharing sites, blogs and more to get as many votes as possible.” Readers of The Bluegrass Blog certainly fit the bill! Please visit Class Act Canada to see Cluny’s video.

According to the contest rules, each IP address can vote 10 times in a row each day. No personal information is required, and just takes seconds to vote. I’ve bookmarked the site and visit it daily, and with the help of more bluegrass fans, we can hopefully help a great picker get a world-class education and make a difference in the lives of our oldest and wisest. Round 2 ends this Friday, so vote soon and often!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Go here to vote.

It seems that most Jewish grassers perform, write or facilitate within our community primarily as bluegrass folks – except for the discussions that pop up when IBMA week conflicts with the High Holy Days, as they often do. Those that do make their music specifically Jewish in character have been prone to half-jokingly refer to what they do as jewgrass – a term I first heard 30 years ago within a group of Jewish bluegrass musicians from New York.

While we were absorbed with preparations for IBMA in late September, Smithsonian.com ran a very interesting article by Jen Miller on just this subject. She interviewed a number of people who celebrate this melding of identities.

Bluegrass lyrics celebrate country living, but many of the people singing them are city folk. Jerry Wicentowski grew up in Brooklyn in the 1960s and fell in love with bluegrass during the folk revival. For religious Jews like Wicentowski, there was a rebellious element to being a fan of the music. Bluegrass became his escape. During the week, he studied at an insular yeshiva; on the weekends he played guitar in Washington Square Park.

After earning a Master’s degree in Hebrew and Semitic Studies and then drifting away from Judaism, a series of life events led Wicentowski to return to religion. Eventually, he found himself a man with two strong identities: a Jew and a bluegrass musician. He began to fuse the two. Wicentowski worked on an album with mandolin virtuoso Andy Statman called “Shabbos in Nashville,” which featured Jewish songs in the style of 1950s bluegrass. Later, he founded his own band, Lucky Break. The Minnesota-based quartet bills itself as “uniquely American, uniquely Jewish,” by mixing “the stark beauty of Appalachian music with Shabbat Z’mirot,” or Sabbath songs.

If this topic interests you, the entire article can be read online.

We heard last week from Robert Trapp, a student in the Recording Industry program at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. He has a project coming up that requires him to track, edit and mix a band for his Recording Techniques class, and he is offering to record an old time, country, traditional, or contemporary bluegrass bands that is available October 20, 23, 24 and 25.

“The sessions will take place on the MTSU campus in studios D and E. Each day will be broken up into 4 hour blocks, so for instance the first day will be a run through (get good mic placement and getting scratch tracks recorded) while the second day will be fine tuning the performances. Day 3 and 4 would most likely be for lead and harmony vocal tracks. This is a great way for me (the student/ aspiring engineer) to gain experience in a professional setting and also a way for a band to record for free and have something to market and promote.”

Sounds like a win-win to me. Contact Robert by email for more details.

Davies is a social worker and long-time amateur rock musician who has undertaken a study of the banjo, and plans to walk the Great North Run on September 20 playing his 5 string. This half marathon is a very popular event which raises funds for a number of charities. Mark has dubbed his attempt as the Great North Strum and invites folks to sponsor him in his quest.

We think that our readers will enjoy his tale of taking up the banjo in mid life, and his quirky sense of humor. If you feel called to support Mark in his walk for charity, he can be reached by email.

“So this is how it is. I’m rapidly reaching Forty, and there’s a couple of things I want to be able to say that I’ve achieved by that milestone. One is to have completed a half marathon, and another is to learn to play the banjo (there are others, but I wont bore you with Playing the Albert Hall, with the Pixies as my back up band).

As Wham might have put it, last Christmas (08), my wife presented me with a lovely Godman 5 String Banjo, and away I went. By mid January I was informed that if I didn’t stop playing a dodgy version of (and I quote) ‘Duelling F*$!*&g Banjo’s’ that I would be acquiring a banjo shaped colonoscopy. But by then it was too late, I had heard Cripple Creek, Wildwood Flower, Wabash Cannonball, Foggy Mountain Breakdown and so much more that I’d previously been aware had existed, but never really listened to. I wanted to get into that place. I told my wife that there were other ways I could be having a mid-life crisis, she said she’d take them!

Around this time, my weight was also becoming a concern. So i started walking, which led to jogging, which led to some weight going (it’s not lost, I know exactly where it is, it’s in the off license and the fridge) which led to a 5K run in my hometown of Middlesbrough (So good they named it once). I clocked in just over thirty minutes, which I was pretty pleased with, and immediately set my sights on attempting the Great North Run. I was running for Butterwick Hospice. My Mother died of Brain cancer, which had spread from her bowel two years ago, so it’s a cause that`s close to my heart. All was going swimmingly, regular 8-10 mile jogs, interspersed with the odd 2-3 mile runs, when in May I felt something go pop in my knee. After seeking advice I was informed to rest it for a couple of months.

During this time a friend of mine was informed that he had late stage aggressive Lung Cancer. This man has in the past and continues to be an inspiration to me in so many ways, professionally, and personally. I wont bore you with how, but here’s an example of this guy. We were discussing in the office whether Jaffa Cakes were biscuits or cakes. People were mentioning tax duty, ingredients, but no definitive answer was forthcoming. When asked, your man just said ‘they’re cakes. Cakes go hard if you leave them out, biscuits go soft.’ Simple as that.

He knew that I’d been messing about with the banjo, and as he is getting a few things ready for when the train reaches the final station, he gave me a battered Windsor Whirle 5 String Junior, which he had bought a few years back meaning to restore. You can imagine what this beautiful instrument means to me. So I had it restored (Nigels guitar Workshop in Richmond North Yorkshire, amazing fella, with the best job in the world) and it sounds great.

So there I am, the knee’s not brilliant, but I reckon I can at least walk the Great North Run, but that’s not really good enough is it. I needed a way to be able to raise money for a couple of Hospices, and Cancer Research. I started training again, and whilst walking I had an epiphany. Carry that Banjo throughout the Great North Run!!!!! Play it at the start, stop (there’s only so often people can listen to the Ballad of Jesse James), and play it as I cross the finishing line! I laughed this off, but the idea stuck. It would be fitting to use the Windsor, and why stop at the great North Run? There’s countless places and events I could take part in with it. I mentioned it to the Wife, and a couple of people (Northern Banjo Boy being one, great blogsite incidentally), and was surprised to hear positive reactions.

I have a blogspot which has daily details posted of how I’m getting on, and have the support of Patrick Costello, and Dame Tanni Grey Thompson.  Thanks for taking the time to read this.”

Here are a couple of clever videos Mark created while he was training for the banjo walk.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The man has spent most of his life helping others learn to play and appreciate the music of guitar and banjo. But apparently Patrick has suffered from some severe hearing loss for most of his life. He recently underwent an operation at John Hopkins to restore his hearing. He got what is called a

“Baha implant,” a hearing aid implanted into the skull, which transmits vibrations straight to the hearing nerve, skipping the ears altogether.

The Philadelphia City Paper has the details of Patrick’s story. It’s amazing to read of how he learned to play, not by hearing the instrument so much, but by feeling it vibrate.

You can read first hand accounts of Patrick’s experiences on his blog dailyfrail.com.

Here’s a youtube video of his experience having the Baha activated at John Hopkins. It’s over 30 minutes long, and it’s about 24 minutes into it when you’ll see him play his guitar and be able to actually hear it for the first time in many years.

Congratulations Patrick and we hope you enjoy hearing yourself play and much as we do!

The Czech bluegrass community has lost one of its greatest personalities – Mr. Milan “Stranger” Leppelt. He passed away after a wasp bite in his garden on August 18th, 2009, not even 50 years old.

He was a musician, singer, banjo player and teacher, songwriter, publicist, translator, secretary of the Czech Bluegrass Association, tireless promoter and good, kind and always a helpful friend.

His family and the European bluegrass community bid him the Last Farewell on Tuesday, August 25th in Police nad Metuji.

Milan’s biggest dream to visit the U.S. will never come true, but now he is playing in the Heaven Bluegrass Band with all his old heroes…..

In the article, he talks about the recent trends among young people, to listen to streaming music rather than purchase, or even illegally download, that same music.

…13- to 17-year-olds “acquired 19 percent less music in 2008 than they did in 2007.” CD sales among these teenagers were down 26 percent and digital purchases were down 13 percent.

…the percentage of 14- to 18-year-olds who regularly share files dropped by nearly a third from December 2007 to January 2009. On the other hand, two-thirds of those teens now listen to streaming music “regularly” and nearly a third listen to it every day.

This is part of a much broader shift in media consumption by young people. They’re moving from an acquisition model to an access model.

Accompanying his article was a graphic representation (see the image in this post) of the value of music sales in different formats over time. The image shows the decline of both vinyl and 8-track, and the rise and decline of both cassette and CD.

This graphic got a lot of attention in the last month. Some people ran through the streets crying out that the sky was falling, others calmly starting looking for new jobs…I’m kidding. It did get a lot of attention though.

The best analysis of the data represented by this chart, that I’ve seen, comes from New Music Strategies, who says You’re looking at it wrong.

His point is that the graph starts in 1973, but the music business was certainly around long before then and there was no crisis at that time. He points out that during that time period, a low point on the graph, new music styles flourished and found new audiences. He comparatively suggests that we could be on the verge of another such time.

The boom and bust pattern of each recorded music format adds up to an overall rise and decline of corporatism in the recorded music industries. Culturally, this could well be something to celebrate.

Personally, I’m hopeful for new and interesting musical forms and genres coming from the margins and being able to reach a significant audience.

Hmmm…how about bluegrass? It’s not new, but it is innovative. Perhaps this will prove to be a golden era for bluegrass music to reach new markets, find new audiences, and grow.

After all…

It’s cheaper to experiment now. It’s easier to reach an audience than ever before, and the economics are such that you don’t need for corporations to be making billions in profit in order to make a decent living at it.

…

My point is that the graph above only represents a crisis for a particular way of organising music business, and not for music business itself – and certainly not for music.

Put on your thinking caps folks, and let’s figure this out!

The CD includes 16 songs, encompassing genres from bluegrass to swing, jazz, and blues. Despite the music diversity of the songs, the CD does have a cohesive feel since all 16 songs are about fishing, fish, and rivers.

Being from the northwestern part of the country, producers Ben Winship and David Thompson share an interest in fly fishing, so you’ll find many themes here from that sport.

In addition to the two producers, you’ll also hear among the guest musicians, bluegrass artists: Mike Dowling, Tim & Mollie O’Brien, Rob Ickes, John Lowell, Andy Hall, Aoife O’Donovan, and Brian Wicklund.

They’ve also produced a music video for the first track, Little Miss Cutthroat.

The CD is priced at $16 and is available directly from FishingMusic.com.

HT: UK Bluegrass

That’s not what it’s about. Voice is the name of this interesting new device from Artioli Designs which allows a guitarist to “hold down” a common first position chord form, leaving the left hand free to either solo over the chord or add alternate voicings. It fits over the first four frets of the fingerboard, and will hold down any chord shape which you make using the Voice Capo’s corresponding buttons.

Here’s a video that demonstrates its operation.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The group is based around the vocals of Tammy Sumner, a former member of Sweetwater Revival, with husband Curtis Sumner and children Taylor and Lauren as well as new group members Al Mercer and Lisa Nielsen. Up until now, they have performed to backing tracks, but are currently seeking acoustic/bluegrass players to work their concerts.

They are looking for musicians who can play rhythm guitar, mandolin, fiddle, harmonica, dobro, and banjo. The band is especially interested in pickers who live in Central Florida and can be available to travel on weekends.

Audio samples of Faithful Crossings’ music can be heard on their web site, where the tour schedule is also displayed.

Interested musicians are invited to contact Arnie Shipp with AWS Management at (864) 981-5811.

The article is a full two pages long and presents the festival and accompanying contest in a positive light. Quite a bit of attention is given to the younger generation of players who are now competing and jamming at these events.

The author was obviously not a bluegrass and old-time aficionado, but appears to have really enjoyed himself at the festival. I can’t help but think many more people would respond in like manner. They may not know much about the music, may even have some preconceived notions concerning it, but get them to a live event and let them experience the excitement and musicality of it, and they’ll walk away at least having enjoyed themselves, if not having become a disciple of the genre.

And they go whole hog…  not only does their music pay homage to the original sound of the first generation of bluegrass pioneers, they also dress in vintage clothes, and their guitarist plays in the old time thumbpick style.

Their new release includes two bluegrass classics (Heavy Traffic Ahead and I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling), recorded around a single 1939 RCA-44 ribbon microphone without overdubs. Taking the vintage vibe all the way home, the new record is a 10”, 78 RPM vinyl single.

Matt Dudman tells us that they were a bit worried about the public reaction to a 78 release, but when they announced it at the CBA Father’s Day Festival last month, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive.

“The response was literally overwhelming. We recorded the performance where we announced the release and the crowed roared when we mentioned that it was a 78. You can see the surprise on my face.

Disbelief, or ‘you’re kidding’ is a common reaction. Then usually ‘what are people gonna play it on?’ To which I explain that my modern turntable has a 33 button and 45 button. If you push them both down, what does it add up to?

And if all else fails, I tell people the 78’s look cool on the wall. Bottom line, they are selling like hotcakes. And it’s all really fun.”

Here’s a clip of the guys (and gal) performing live in the studio.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The event has been a labor of love for festival organizer Thanit Tanitapanee, who has worked hard to see this come to light. He tells us that a growing segment of the Thai people are interested in country and bluegrass music, along with cowboy culture, clothing and head wear.

Hats off to Thanit for seeing this through, and congratulations for making it to a second year. Here are a few details he sent…

After 1 year of long trying to make, this year the festival will be on Dec, 26 2009 with Rodeo day event at Khao Yai Nakornrachasima – close to Khao Yai World Heritage.

Meet Thai’s bluegrass & country bands:

• The Blue Mountain boys
• The Outlaw Brothers
• The Old Timer
• Mr. Boon Banjo
• Mr. Bird Banjo
• Mr. Nok Khawnung
• and more

If you and your band like to join the festival, we could support accommodations (Camping) and meal.

Those intereted in performing or attending the 2009 Thailand Country & Bluegrass festival can reach Thanit by email.

The headline intrigued us when we saw it online, but it wasn’t the International Bluegrass Music Association but the Indian Biscuit Manufacturers Association that was taking a stand against excise and VAT taxes.

Besides, our IBMA is too busy making preparations for the 2009 World Of Bluegrass convention September 28 through October 4 in Nashville to worry about biscuit taxes.

Or maybe the biscuit tax has something to do with resonator guitars?

A Spring Pilgrimage to the Ozarks & the Kick-off to the Summer Festival Season
by Nancy Cardwell

If you’ve ever had such a great time at a bluegrass festival that you wished it could just continue a few more days past the weekend, Silver Dollar City’s annual Bluegrass & Barbecue Festival in Branson, MO might be your cup of ice cold, sweet tea!

For three weeks every May, families from all over the country gather at this unique, 1880s-era theme park in the Ozarks to hear some of the finest bluegrass bands perform on a variety of stages‚Äîvarying in size from an intimate cabin front porch to a main street gazebo and a state-of-the-art theater that seats 1000 fans in air conditioned comfort. With performances on nine stages daily and attendance at around 10,000 a day, it’s one of the largest multi-day bluegrass festivals in the world.

This year’s May 13-31 event featured Dailey & Vincent, The Grascals, Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, the Next Best Thing, Marty Raybon & Full Circle, Sierra Hull & Hwy. 111, Audie Blaylock & Redline, the Steep Canyon Rangers, The Muellers, Balsam Range, Lonnie Hoppers, Cody Shuler & Pine Mountain Railroad, The Harmans, David Davis & the Warrior River Boys, the Kruger Brothers, Nothin’ Fancy, The Easter Brothers, Monroe Crossing, the Sawtooth Bluegrass Band, Bluegrass Brothers, The Rolf Family, Hunt Family Bluegrass, Men of the Week, the Faris Family, the Peterson Family Band, The Martin Family Band, the Blue & Gray Pickers, The Ozark Alliance, The Bost Family, The Sterlings, The Millers, the Link Family, the Triple L. Band, the Stockdale Family Band, the Downing Family, the Redhead Express, Gold Heart Sisters, The Huntley Sisters, Brightwater Junction, the Farnum Family and Road Less Traveled, among others.

Bull Harman & Bull’s Eye from Florissant, Mo. took home the first place trophy at the 3rd Annual Single Mic Championship (May 16-17), and the Meyer Bluegrass Band from Sheldon, Mo. won the top prize at the Youth in Bluegrass Band Contest held May 23-24.

Nineteen bands from nine states competed in the Youth in Bluegrass competition, sponsored for the eighth year by local public radio station, KSMU-FM (Springfield, Mo.), where Mike Smith, the broadcast voice of bluegrass music in the region, has been hosting his show, Seldom Heard Music—joined in recent years by co-host Harry Moore, for more than 25 years. In order to enter the contest, a band must feature entertainers age 21 or younger. Many of them are family-based groups. Cash prizes from $400-1200 were awarded to the top five bands.

The youth weekend is usually as much fun for the bands as for the audience, with lots of backstage and after hours jamming going on. “The youth contest made for a great weekend,” Silver Dollar City’s D.A. Callaway said. “We had a pizza party and music jam on Saturday night of the big contest. We had a big tent set up, with benches and picnic tables. The kids ate 60 pizzas, and a big square dance broke out about dark.”

The Single Mic Championship, believed to be the only contest of its kind that judges participants on their Flatt & Scruggs-style choreography around a single microphone on stage, offers a professional photo session and a full page ad in Bluegrass Unlimited to the winning band, as well as a future booking at Silver Dollar City for the top three groups.

The Grascals, Nothin’ Fancy, Dailey & Vincent and Sierra Hull anchored the line-up for the last four days of the festival, and for Danny Roberts, mandolin player with The Grascals, it was like “old home week.”  Although originally from Kentucky, Roberts says he played at the popular theme park “probably twice a year with New Tradition, all the years we were together, and now we’ve been here every year with the Grascals except for the first year when we were with Dolly. So it’s very much like home here.”

In addition to bringing his family with him to enjoy the festival‚Äîthis year his parents were there‚ÄîDanny says he looks forward to the chance to connect with fans from west of the Mississippi in Branson. “There’s a lot of people out this way that I got to know from the New Tradition days, and I get to see them again,” he says. “The Grascals play a lot more in the East, and New Tradition worked more in the West. There are a lot of great bands out here, and I get to see a ton of people I don’t see anywhere else, but here. It’s just a lot of fun.”

The obvious draw (and genius) of hosting a bluegrass festival at an amusement park‚Äîparticularly one like this that’s steeped in the local Ozarks culture‚Äîis that the overall event offers a variety of entertainment for a hardcore bluegrass fan’s entire family. With artists and craftsmen demonstrating their skills around every corner (candy makers, glass blowers, blacksmiths, basket weavers, woodcarvers, quilters, etc.), combined with some of the most exciting roller coasters and water rides in the nation, there’s always something interesting to do for visitors of any age.

It’s also an opportunity for many folks to hear bluegrass music for the first time. “We have several kids here with their parents who come up and say, ‚ÄòYou know, I like bluegrass. I didn’t know I liked bluegrass,’” Roberts says. He’s also a fan of the barbecued chicken sandwiches, and Danny’s eight-year-old daughter, Jaelee, likes the White Water park next door to SDC and the “Fire in the Hole” roller coaster‚Äîan attraction that incorporates the fiddle tune, “Fire on the Mountain” into its soundtrack. “She also loves the petting zoo,” Danny adds. “She always says, ‚ÄòDaddy, can I have a bunny?’ And I say, ‚ÄòHoney, you can’t take their bunnies.’”

Dale Martin, lead guitarist/vocalist with The Martins, a Jefferson City, MO-based band that will showcase at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass in Nashville this fall, said his family has been performing at Silver Dollar City since 2002, when they won the first Youth in Bluegrass band competition. Dale, his siblings (age 10-22) and their father, Elvin, make up the band.

Although they tour nationally, Dale always looks forward to coming back to SDC every year. “It’s always exciting because there’s so much going on all around you,” he says. In fact, “When you’re onstage, you’ve got to focus and make sure you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. It’s easy to lose your concentration, with so many people walking around. It’s an exciting place.”

From a fan’s perspective, Dale sees a lot of drawing points. “I would definitely come here to see music,” he says. “It’s a great atmosphere, the stages and theaters are nice, and the sound is always good. They always have a great line-up.  There are good bands here.”

Dale’s sister, Jeana Martin, married Eddie Faris, the banjo player with The Faris Family‚Äîa band that was also booked to play the Bluegrass & Barbecue festival the last weekend of May. In fact, they were married on Bill Monroe’s birthday last September‚Äîthe 13th,  On the recommendation of Darrin Vincent, Ricky Skaggs hired Eddie in January to play arch-top guitar and sing the baritone part with Kentucky Thunder. At least a couple of times during the weekend, the two bands guested on each other’s stage shows, which made for some exciting finales.

The second half of the Bluegrass & Barbecue Festival name, of course, is “barbecue”‚Äîanother item of high interest to many bluegrass fans. For 19 days in May, the Red Gold Heritage Hall turned into “The House of Barbeque,” with a massive, nine-foot wood-fired smoker outside generating the intoxicating aroma of slow-cooked ribs, chicken, brisket and pulled pork.

Inside, along with music shows performed by the highly entertaining country/bluegrass/gospel/yodeling trio, Pure Heart, were stands featuring barbecue styles and sauces from North Carolina, South Carolina, Memphis, Kansas City and Texas. For those truly intrigued by barbecue, an hour-long cooking class was offered several times throughout the festival in the City’s new Culinary & Craft Center.

In addition to the intoxicating scent of good barbecue, the entire Silver Dollar City experience is an olfactory adventure. As you get off the parking lot tram, the scent of sunscreen and the warm smell of sun-soaked pavement fades into a parade of interesting fragrances.

There’s the heavenly scent of mature trees and fresh breezes that populate the entire, deeply shaded park, for one thing‚Äîplus the light perfume from a variety of colorful flowers blooming everywhere. On the way to the Hospitality House at the park entrance, the aroma of homemade cinnamon rolls wafts over from the bakery on the left. On the way to Brown’s Candy Shop‚Äîwhere homemade peanut and pecan brittle making is demonstrated daily (with free samples!), there’s the popular funnel cake stand. Across from that, just down the way before you cross a bridge, is the Wilderness Road Blacksmtih Shop, where senior blacksmith Wayne Rice demonstrates his craft, creating curls of smoke and the distinctive odor of salt coal burning in the forge.

The rush of steam and a train whistle from the Silver Dollar City Line signals the advance of an authentic, steam-powered train that burns another type of coal in the engineer’s car. In the woodcarver’s shop there’s a hint of sawdust, and the light fragrance of hot scented wax hangs in the air at the dip-your-own candle shop. The scent of freshly baked apple pies and blackberry cobbler emanates from Mary’s Pies. And of course there’s nothing that smells better to a bluegrass fan than the slightly musty, vintage aroma that settles into old instrument cases and resides in the sound holes and f-holes of treasured instruments‚Äîalthough most of us don’t close enough to inhale the scent of the instruments the bands are playing.

Silver Dollar City is built on the site of Marmaros, an 1880s Ozark frontier village at the entrance of what was known as Marble (now “Marvel”) Cave. The winter of 1959-60, the members of the Herschend family, who still own the park, built the shops in the main square area of Silver Dollar City so tourists would have something to do while waiting for the next cave tour. The first public relations director, the late Don Richardson, had the idea of calling the place “Silver Dollar City” and gave the big coins in change. Still a privately held corporation with interests and ownership in a number of additional properties now (including Dollywood), Silver Dollar City hosts two million visitors every year.

The sights and sounds and smells of Silver Dollar City weave together to form an almost palatable sense of peace and relaxation for most visitors. There’s a large wooden antique clock at the park entrance, with an arrow that points to the early 1880s‚Äîand time literally does seem to slow its pace just a bit, compared to the real world most of us live in. It’s OK to walk slowly (or run to the next ride, if you’re 10 years old and are really excited), to take the time to hear stories or listen to an old fiddle tune, to chat with strangers seated near you while waiting for a concert to begin (new shows start about every 30 minutes, somewhere on the park), to watch craft demonstrations, and maybe even try some things yourself. It’s a safe, friendly, naturally beautiful environment where guests experience “recreation” in its literal meaning‚Äî”re-creating” and renewing the spirit.

At the 26th annual International Country Music Conference held Memorial Day weekend at Belmont University in Nashville, TN last month, Dr. Crispin Sartwell, from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, presented a paper on the topic of Reactionary Progressivism: Tradition as Innovation in Bluegrass Music, which focused on patterns and theories of the progression of time, in an attempt to explain the cycles and development of the bluegrass music art form. Although he grew up in an urban area in the East, Sartin said when he fell in love with bluegrass music it caused him to miss the Little Cabin Home on the Hill childhood that he never actually had. He longed for this so much, that he now lives in a cabin in the woods, and his children will have the roots described in those traditional bluegrass songs.

Silver Dollar City, with its authentic, homespun atmosphere and hospitality, is the perfect backdrop for a festival that features bluegrass music.  It’s the three-dimensional, real-life version of the feeling Sartwell and many other fans connect with the genre. The good thing for the bluegrass industry, is that the venue hosts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year‚Äîall of whom have the opportunity to experience our music in a friendly place, presented in a highly skilled and professional way by some of the best musicians around.

The National Harvest Festival (Sept. 12-Oct. 31) will include appearances by The Chapmans, Big Smith, Midnight Flight, Special Consensus, Williams & Clark Expedition, Bankester Family, NewFound Road, The Quebe Sisters Band, Bluegrass Brigade, Bluegrass Missourians, Gold Wing Express, Eli Barsi & Pickin’ Council, Jazzabillies, Lonesome Road and more.

The video is for the song Cactus Garden, and it’s a clever visualization of the story with puppets playing the instruments and singing the song. I mean a puppet farmer playing the banjo and a pair of puppet rabbits tag-teaming a fiddle… how could you go wrong?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lilly wrote this report to help bluegrass fans worldwide recognize the contributions Matu?°ka made to Czech music.

Saturday May 30th the Country & Western music world lost one of its most famous Czech sons. The singer and actor, Waldemar Matu?°ka, died in his Florida home in St. Petersburg Florida of pneumonia and heart failure, aged 76.

Matu?°ka, a charismatic personality called by the whole loving nation as our “Walda,” was one of the most memorable voices of 20th century. His career lasted over four decades. He recorded about 30 albums and starred in more than 20 movies, including award winning 1968 film All My Countrymen by Vojtech Jasny.

He was opposite of his show-business friend Karel Gott. As a rebel, hothead, tramp…

His beautiful baritone and black full beard earned him enormous popularity. He played several instruments, though most people remember him as a banjo man. He had his first hit in 1960 and two years later he won the first Golden Nightingale ever for the best Czechoslovak singer. The second time for him was again in 1967.

He toured the world, Paris, London, Nashville – where he performed several times with his band K.T.O. in the late seventies. Bill Monroe told me once, he likes him very much, even as he said, it is more Czech grass, as real bluegrass.

In 1986 he decided to leave the communist Czechoslovakia and settled with his family in St. Petersburg, Florida.  He was already ill with severe asthma and the climate there was much better for him than in Prague.

After a fall of Czechoslovak communist regime in 1989 he visited frequently his old homeland. His last public appearance there took place in 2007. I saw him for the last time at the Jamboree Festival Strakonice in 2004.

This year at the same festival we first learned about his passing. We held a moment of silence and his friends sang his song for him.

His last wish was that he be laid to rest in Czech Republic. The last farewell ceremony is to be held in Prague, June 21st

You will live forever in your music in our hearts, dear Walda!!!

Lilly Pavlak
B?ºlach, Switzerland – June 8th, 2009

Here’s a video of Walda from 1982.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Russ Niles, editor in chief of AVweb, is heading out on a barnstorming tour of the US starting this weekend, with champion fiddler Jeff Pritchard in tow. AVweb is a online news source for folks interested in independent aviation, and Pritchard is a former Grand Master fiddle winner, who has also picked up trophies at Winfield.

They will be touring in a 1938 Herpa Douglas DC-3 on a trip will ultimately cover 2500 nautical miles.

Their first stop is in Huntsville, AL on Saturday evening (5/23) followed by a weekend in northern Arkansas at Gaston’s White River Resort. At each stop, they will play a bit of bluegrass and be available to meet with other vintage aircraft fans.

Many of their airport stops are yet to be determined, and most will be unannounced. Niles will post a video blog each day of the trip at avweb.com if you want to follow along and see where they are headed.

Who knows… they may be stopping off in your home town.

Roberts tells us that The Bluegrass Babies are already rehearsing for a second act.

“Knowing how strongly small children respond to roots music and especially Bluegrass this project just sort of naturally evolved.  It’s just for fun really, but now we’ve started we’ve become addicted and are working on more songs!”