Bobby Osborne and J.D. Crowe are hitting the road, together. The two legends are planning to tour as part of The American Bluegrass Masters concert tour. Organizers are stating this is the first time in 50 years that Crowe and Osborne have toured together. The tour is being promoted as featuring Living Legends & Next Generation Stars.

The Masters band for the tour consists of:

• Bobby Osborne - mandolin
• JD Crowe - banjo
• Dean Osborne - banjo and guitar
• Bobby Osborne Jr. - bass and guitar
• Richard Bennett - guitar
• Curtis Burch - resophonic/steel guitar
• JP Mathes - banjo, guitar, bass

In addition to the Masters band, the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music Ensemble is on the tour as well. The ensemble consists of:

• Obadiah (Obe) Golding - banjo
• Andrew DeKemper - resophonic/steel guitar
• Katherine Boguss - fiddle

No tour dates have been announced yet. Booking information is available at opus3artists.com.

Once again, The Grand Ole Opry has some bluegrass to offer in this weekend’s broadcasts.

Friday night’s Opry (6/13) will feature performances from Mountain Heart, The Whites and Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top X-Press while Saturday (6/14) night has 3 Fox Drive and the Carolina Chocolate Drops on tap.

Kim Fox of 3 Fox Drive tells us that they will also be performing Saturday evening at the Opry Plaza Party, a free event just outside the Opry House that starts at 5:30 p.m.

“We’re really looking forward to the weekend as we’re flying our dad in for Father’s Day. Crossing our fingers that the weather holds out!!”

The Friday Opry is broadcast from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. (EST) and the Saturday show runs from 7:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. Both shows are available over the air in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville), and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

The famous Wheeling, West Virginia, radio programme, the Wheeling Jamboree, on WWVA 1170AM, returns the air on Saturday, April 19. The Wheeling Jamboree Inc. will host their first show from John Marshall Center for the Performing Arts in Glen Dale, West Virginia.

On the bill is Bobby Osborne, who comes back to the stage on which he and his brother, Sonny, as the Osborne Brothers, were stalwarts in the 1950s and 1960s. Topping the bill is country star Earl Thomas Conley, a contemporary country music star in the1980s, while also on the show are Bluegrass Express from Eastern Ohio, Logan Wells from Cleveland who does a great tribute to Patsy Cline, and Roger Hoard with the Fabulous Bender Boys.

Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top X-Press can be heard also on their latest Rounder CD, Bluegrass Melodies (0582).

Tickets for this show are available at Wheeling Jamboree website or by calling 800-875-8702. Show time is 7:00 to 10:oo p.m. (EDT). Doors open at 5:30 pm.

Radio station WWVA aired its first broadcast on December 13, 1926, and like so many radio stations at the time it had its own Barn Dance featuring local music talent, particularly yodelers. Spurred by the success of these live music shows WWVA owner George W. Smith gathered several local musicians, set them up at WWVA’s Hawley Building studios, and broadcast the program as a late-night Saturday Jamboree. The first Wheeling Jamboree took place in the station’s Hawley Building studios in January 1933.

During its very storied history the Wheeling Jamboree has been the home to many fine singers.

Among the early performers were Loye Donald Pack, professionally known as singer/guitarist “Cowboy” Loye; “wandering minstrel” Elmer Crowe and Marshall Jones, the banjo and guitar player who would later achieve fame as Grandpa Jones. These were followed by Doc Williams and his Border Riders, Chickie Williams, Doc’ wife, who became legends on the programme; Lee and Juanita Moore; Dusty Owens; the Clinch Mountain Clan, led by Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper; Everett Lilly; Little Jimmy Dickens; Harold “Hawkshaw” Hawkins; Charlie Louvin; the afore-mentioned Osborne Brothers; Mac Wiseman; the Davis Sisters; the Stanley Brothers; Jim Greer’s Mac-O-Chee Valley Folks; and Brad Paisley, a twelve-year-old when he made his debut.

The programme celebrated its seventieth year of continuous broadcasts in 2003. Only the Grand Ole Opry has had a longer stage run. For millions of country music fans who come to the Capitol Music Hall every year, or who tune in the station on a Saturday night, Jamboree USA is an important piece in the country music tapestry.

The show ran for 72 years, until in 2005, when the Wheeling Capitol Music Hall changed ownership.

Wheeling Jamboree, Inc. is a non-profit corporation established by a group of dedicated individuals who have decided to revive the show, to promote educational opportunities in the music industry and performing arts, and to promote travel and tourism to the Wheeling area.

Wichita Rutherford is reporting this morning on the latest lawsuit to involve a bluegrass celebrity.

Bobby Osborne has reportedly been sued for $16 million, in a suit claiming he caused irreparable hearing damage to a listener’s ears, when hitting the high note in Ruby. The suit alleges that the note, unamplified, reached an ear shattering 190 decibels. That volume level would rival that of the largest commercially available firearm.

Furthermore, the suit goes on to imply that Osborne did this maliciously.

Mr. Osborne is a phenomenal singer, there’s no question about that, however, he used a high note as a weapon. This isn’t the first time either.

It appears the suit is being settled out of court for a lesser sum than the plaintiff originally requested from the court.

Read the full report on Wichita’s Blog.

Former Blue Grass Boy Larry Richardson passed away on Fathers Day, June 17, after a six-month long battle with colon cancer. He died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Lake Butler, Florida.

Born August 9, 1927, in the Galax area of Virginia, Richardson was a highly-rated old style mountain banjo player, someone who epitomised the early days of bluegrass music. He was from the old school of lead/tenor singers, crystal clear and high and real lonesome. Also, as can be heard on his work with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, he was a talented lead guitarist.

He penned Don’t Forget Me, the perennially popular Pain in My Heart, Will I Meet Mother in Heaven and Lonesome, Sad and Blue with Bobby Osborne, each of which was recorded in March 1950 while the duo were with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers. These recordings are also found on an album in Rounder’s Early Days Of Bluegrass series, Vol. 3 - New Sounds Ramblin’ from Coast to Coast.

Richardson worked with Bill Monroe during the 1950-1951 period.

Larry Richardson can be heard in the form of several tracks on the 1957 Various Artists LP American Banjo Three-Finger and Scruggs Style (Folkways FA 2314, re-issued on CD as Smithsonian Folkways 40037), Dear Old Dixie, Little Maggie, Take Me Back To the Sweet Sunny South , Bucking Mule and Lonesome Road Blues.

Another Larry Richardson recording is found on a later Folkways album, Galax, Virginia; Old Fiddler’s Convention (Folkways FA 2435, 1964). Accompanied by Sonny Miller and Johnny Jackson, Richardson plays a fine rendition of Turkey In The Straw. (more…)

Bluegrass legend Bobby Osborne has just released a his new CD, Bluegrass Melodies. Bobby has long been a favorite of mine. The smooth, clear quality of his high lonesome singing serves as a constant example of what bluegrass singing should sound like. Mr. Osborne does not disappoint on this new recording.

The band on the CD is the same band you’ll see at a show, Rocky Top X-Press. The band consists of Daryl Mosely on bass, Dana Cupp on banjo, Bobby Osborne Jr. on guitar, Mat Despain on dobro, and of course Bobby Osborne himself on mandolin. All the band members contribute vocally to the project.

The only thing you’ll hear on the CD that differs from the band is the addition of Glen Duncan’s superb fiddle playing, and a special guest vocalist on the last song (see below).

I asked Bobby what the most enjoyable part of the experience in making this CD was.

The most enjoyabe part of making the cd is having a great band to work with and my long time friend and producer Glen Duncan. His super work with the Fiddle is another one of my favorite things on the cd.

Let’s talk about the songs on this disc. The CD opens with a classic Osborne sound on the song, What Kind of Fool. If this tune sets the stage for the rest of the CD, we’re in for a good listen. (more…)

Bobby Osborne’s second CD release with his new band, Rocky Top X-Press, is due from Rounder Records on July 10. Bluegrass Melodies will showcase the soulful voice and mandolin prowess of this 75 year old music legend.

The new CD was produced by Osborne and Glen Duncan, and includes three new original songs that Bobby wrote himself, along with some popular favorites like Lonesome River and Thank God I’m A Country Boy.

A certain highlight will be Bobby’s duet with Rhonda Vincent on Vince Gill’s Go Rest High On That Mountain, a haunting ode Gill wrote to his brother shortly after his untimely death.

Members of Rocky Top X-Press are Dana Cupp on banjo, David Crow on fiddle, Matt DeSpain on resonator guitar, Darryl Mosley on bass, Bobby Osborne, Jr. on guitar, and Bobby Sr. on mandolin. Bobby formed this group when his brother and long-time musical partner, Sonny, chose to retire, effectively disbanding The Osborne Brothers.

There are no audio samples up yet online for Bluegrass Melodies (that we can find), so we’ll post again when they turn up.

The state of Kentucky Department of Parks is teaming up with America’s Bluegrass Inc. to promote both bluegrass music and the state parks. A series of four concerts are to be held at three of the state parks this spring/summer in what is being called the Cradle of Bluegrass Music Trail.

The series features Kentucky natives who are bluegrass musicians including: Don Rigsby, Larry Cordle, Bobby Osborne, Kenny Bishop, Melvin Goins, the Grascals and, of course, J.D. Crowe and the New South.

The series begins April 7th at the Rough River Dan State Park near Leitchfield, continues April 21st at the Frankfort Convention Center (this show is headlined by Earl Scruggs), then on to Jenny Wiley State Resort Park on April 28, and concludes May 19 at the General Butler State Resort Park.

The genesis of the idea can be traced back to Charles Lewis, president of America’s Bluegrass Inc. Lewis hosts a bluegrass show on WSAZ-TV in Huntington, WV and on KET2, Kentucky Public Television. He approached the park department with the idea of a single concert.

J.T. Miller, commissioner of Kentucky State Parks, tells us what the purpose is of holding this concert series.

From our standpoint, it is to build excitement for and occupancy of our state parks, as well as promoting Bluegrass music in Kentucky. Charles Lewis proposed a “big name” event at the 5,000-seat Frankfort Convention Center to build public awareness of the “Trail.”

Lewis was responsible was choosing the talent for the concert series, but following his Grammy nomination, Miller suggested they add kenny Bishop to the lineup.

All concerts start at 1pm local time and will feature a combination of secular and gospel bluegrass music. Lodging packages are offered at the three state park shows and include the concert, a night’s lodging, meals, and a chance to meet the artists.

The state park concert tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. The convention center show tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Tickets can be ordered by visiting the Kentucky State Park website.

J.T. Miller tells me that they may consider a similar event in the fall.

If successful, we’d like to do this in the fall at even more parks. Kentucky is truly the “Cradle” of Bluegrass, so it is natural that we would want to be a part of this.

Pinecastle has wonderful news for fans of The Osborne Brothers. They are set to release a 3 disk set recorded on July 30, 1989 in Streekermoor, Germany entitled, appropriately enough, The Osborne Brothers: Live In Germany. Tom Riggs at Pinecastle says that this is just the first of several unreleased Osborne Brothers recordings which they will put out over the next few years.

This concert was part of a European tour with Bill Monroe, and the accompanying liner notes from Sonny and Bobby describe bus travel with the Father of Bluegrass.

“While traveling, everyone wore just plain old riding clothes and such, but not Mr. Monroe. His traveling uniform was a suit and tie, along with his hat, which I thought was strange, but that was Monroe. Our only transportation was two small and I mean small, vans in which to carry two complete bands.”

The Osborne’s band at the time included Terry Eldridge on guitar/vocals and Terry Smith on bass - both currently members of The Grascals - and Steve Thomas on fiddle, along with Bobby and Sonny Osborne.

This live set includes two audio CDs, and a DVD video of the show. The audio has been painstakingly remastered, produced and overseen by Sonny Osborne with John Eberle of Americana Mastering. The DVD is included, despite the fact that it was not professionally recorded, because it is one of the few video recordings on the band from that era.

Many Osborne Brothers favorites are on tap: Kentucky, Listening To The Rain, Georgia Mules and Country Boys, Midnight Flyer, Tennessee Hound Dog and - of course - Rocky Top.

Pinecastle has The Osborne Brothers: Live In Germany scheduled for release on April 3, 2007.

Some of the more popular bluegrass instrumental projects of recent years have been in a Pinecastle series which came to be called the Bluegrass Annual projects, as each was designated by the year in which it was released. Seven CDs were eventually included, starting with Bluegrass ‘95, and concluding with Bluegrass 2001.

The series had a largely accidental genesis, initially recorded as a solo project for Clay Jones, now guitarist with Mountain Heart. When that project was finished, Clay made a decision to work outside of music, and Pinecastle was prepared to shelve the recording, seeing no venue to promote it. Scott Vestal, a long time friend of Clay’s who played banjo on the project, intervened with the label and convinced them to release it as an instrumental CD so that the artists who recorded with Clay (Adam Steffey, Wayne Benson, Aubrey Haynie, Barry Bales), could at least offer it for sale at their shows.

Scott was quoted in an August 2000 article in Banjo NewsLetter about this, and how he came to take charge of creating and producing an instrumental release for them for each of the next six years.

“I talked with Tom Riggs at Pinecastle and suggested that we release it in some form with a generic title so that at least the guys on the record could sell it at shows. I just threw out the name, Bluegrass ‘95 and he liked it. No one expected it to sell so well but, when it did, Pinecastle turned the concept over to me and asked me to do one each year.”

Each was successful in its own right, but as the CD inventory for each title sold through, Pinecastle has elected to let them go out of print. Bluegrass 2001 is the only one still available as an audio CD.

They released a compilation from those CDs in the summer of 2005, called Ultimate Pickin, which featured 20 tracks taken from those recordings, and now a second compilation is out with a bit broader range that includes more tracks from those popular CDs.

The newly released More Ultimate Pickin also contains 20 tracks, taken from the aforementioned Vestal-produced projects, and other Pinecastle CDs like Bobby Osborne & Jesse McReynolds’ Masters Of The Mandolin, among others. A full track listing and a few audio samples can be found on the Pinecastle site.

You can still obtain the individual Bluegrass Annual projects as digital downloads in the iTunes Music Store. Follow the links below to find them in iTunes.

Bobby Osborne will be the special guest tomorrow (1/5) on the Muldoon In The Afternoon show on WorldWideBluegrass.com.

Bobby will join host Gracie Muldoon at 1:30 p.m. (EST) to discuss his plans for 2007, and his long and storied career in bluegrass music.

You can hear the interview online on WWB, where they stream bluegrass music and shows 24/7. There is no subscription fee or cost to listen, and their cybercasting efforts are wholly listener-supported.

The WWB programs are not archived, so be sure to catch the show when it is broadcast live.

Mountain Heart will be a featured performer on the 11/25 edition of The Grand Ole Opry on WSM radio out of Nashville. They will perform during the 9:30-10:00 p.m. and 12:30-1:00 a.m. segments (EST).

Also on the show this week are Mike Snider (8:00-8:30 and 10:00-10:30 slots) and Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press (8:30-9:00 p.m. and midnight-12:30 a.m. slots).

If you live within WSM’s substantial broadcast range, you can tune in at 650 AM from Nashville. If not, you can 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, November 25.

Highlights of the audio broadcast are also available in the WSM audio archives if you miss the broadcast.

After a week that has been non-stop activity, the Grascals topped off this most memorable week with a trip to the Grand Ole Opry and an appearance at Fan Fest.

The whole tv portion was devoted to bluegrass tonight and it was so electric backstage, you could hear the buzzin’ in the hallways. Had a bomb gone off in the Makeup Room before the show, three of the hottest acts in bluegrass would’ve been wiped out. 

Sitting in one makeup chair was Rhonda Vincent, resplendent in her red gown and red boots that she got in New York City; in another chair the Cherryholmes Sisters were getting curled and flat ironed;  in another chair, The Grascals were getting coiffed and make-upped while Daddy Jere Cherryholmes told a tale of getting pulled over by the cops while traveling this last week. Seems some Boys in Blue were a mite suspicious of a bus hauling musicians with a bearded leader, following Willie Nelson’s unfortunate run-in with the law a week or so ago. 

There may be some competition between all the various groups, but, at the same time, there is much camaraderie and brother/sisterhood between the groups. All are after a common purpose and that’s making great bluegrass music and taking it to the farthest ends of the earth.

Ricky Skaggs was the Host With The Most on the Opry. In case you missed the live Opry performance on GAC, it will run a number of times through the week.  You can see the schedule here.

Another memorable performance on the first show of the Opry tonight featured The Whites, with sister Rosie White Franklin singing lead on “A Violet and a Rose” with sisters Sharon and Cheryl singing harmony.  Breathtaking. Course, those girls are probably my favorite singers ever…and three of my favorite people ever. 

In between Opry shows, the Grascals hopped in their vehicles and went back downtown for their appearance at Fan Fest. 

One would think all those IBMA attendees would be wearing out after a week of pickin’, listening, visitin’…not hardly. I was totally mesmerized by a group of young pickers that appeared to be about the age of a couple kids at my house (13 and 14). In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of teenagers running around the Convention Center with instruments. Whoever these kids were having the impromptu jam session on the bottom floor, they were something else.  Even Ken Irwin was sitting down listening to them. Nobody needs to worry about the future of Bluegrass.

Speaking of Bluegrass Kids, Ryan Holladay has certainly had a growth spurt this last year. Neither Terry Eldredge or I recognized him at first. 

I’ve never seen so many dobros in one place as just about every dobro player you could name was tuning up to do a tribute to Uncle Josh Graves, who passed away earlier today. Charlie Cushman brought up an interesting point that how ironic that Josh had died on Marty Stuart’s birthday? Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder also paid tribute to Josh on the Opry with their rendition of “Foggy Mountain Rock.”

After the Grascals did their set at Fan Fest, they spent a little time at their table greeting people, then it was back over to Briley Parkway for their second show on the Opry. They appeared immediately behind Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top Express. 

The Cherryholmes and Grascals were discussing how busy this week has been back in the dressing room. Both groups will only get a couple days rest before it’s back out again Wednesday for the Cherryholmes and Friday for the Grascals. I’m sure Rhonda’s week will be busy as usual.

We finally got in the car to head home to Hendersonville. We turned the radio on to the Ernest Tubb Midnite Jamboree and there was Rhonda and the Rage, hosting. That bunch sounded as sparkly and sharp. They are some kinda pros. I bet they’ll be glad to get in their beds tonight though.

In celebration of Bobby Osborne’s new CD Try A Little Kindness, Rounder Records is sponsoring a tribute concert at The Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, TN on March 23rd.

The concert is to feature the following artists:

• Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives
• Marty Raybon
• The Grascals
• Larry Stephenson
• Alecia Nugent
• Claire Lynch

The concert takes place at 7pm. Contact info below:

The Belcourt Theatre
2102 Belcourt Avenue
Nashville, TN
(615) 846-3150 or belcourt.org