Our good friend Brad Davis is one of those super fast flatpickers that leaves you wondering, “How does he do that?” Well, Brad wrote in to share one of his secrets (besides insane talent, and lots of practice). The secret is coffee.

Brad is an avid coffee drinker. I’ve been in studio sessions with him that lasted 12 hours or more, and I’ve seen him drink a lot of coffee. Somewhere around a year ago, Brad showed up with a new coffee he insisted I had to try. The brand was Coffee Fool. I had never heard of them before, but Brad swore by the stuff.

Brad went on to write a theme song for company, just because he loved the coffee so much. You can hear that song by visiting CoffeeFool.com and clicking the play button in the lower left.

Just a couple months ago at the January NAMM show, Brad teamed up with Flapicking Guitar Magazine editor Dan Miller, to convince the guys at Coffee Fool that bluegrass flatpickers were in need of a special brew to give them the energy boost necessary to keep up with banjo and fiddle players during late night jam sessions. The company responded by creating a special coffee blend just for flatpickers. It’s called Flatpicker Fuel.

Pick the high note and low note at the same time with our post-roast blend of high energy Breakfast Brew, rich Fool’s House Italian and the subtle sweetness of pure Extra Fancy Hawaiian Kona. Just the right combo to keep you jammin’ through the day… or night!

CoffeeFool.com is a great supporter of music and musicians. They are sponsoring some of Brad Davis’ workshops and performances and are also co-sponsoring some live music events with Flatpicking Guitar Magazine. Dan Miller had this to say about working with Coffee Fool.

When Flatpicking Guitar Magazine needed a co-sponsor to help with the costs of promoting and hosting an Infamous Stringdusters show in California, with opening act Keith Little and Jim Nunally, Coffeefool.com didn’t hesitate to jump on board and get involved. They are good folks who love supporting live music.

So if you’re a flatpicker in need of a speed boost, give Flatpicker Fuel a try.

Here is a Christmas memory from guitarist Brad Davis. Brad has performed with Marty Stuart, Earl Scruggs, and Billy Bob Thornton, among others.

The most musical fun that I can remember during the Christmas holiday is when I got invited to the Earl Scruggs christmas party. Most of the folks there I knew, however there were a few that I didn’t. It all felt like family though.

With all of Louise Scruggs’ Christmas decorations the house had a wonderful holiday cheer about it. What I enjoyed most was jamming with Earl and the guests, and visiting with Louise, Gary and Randy Scruggs. Those are the moments that create wonderful memories.

Merry Christmas to all.

The latest DVD release from Flatpicking Guitar is Volume 4 in Brad Davis’ Flatpick Jam series. Like the three that preceded it, this DVD is a play-along video where Brad demonstrates flatpicking solos for 11 tunes, and then plays each one with bass and mandolin accompaniment at four different speeds.

For each tune, at each speed, Brad plays through the solo and then provides a rhythm guitar accompaniment for you to pick the lead. The idea is to allow you to play the solos slowly as you first learn them, with a solid rhythm guitar behind you to keep time.

Once you graduate from the slow version, Brad alternates between soloing and back up twice through so that you can get a good rhythm workout yourself. For more experienced pickers, the fastest version is at a typical performance speed, which could be useful for both warm-up and rhythm work.

The tunes are all familiar fiddle tunes and jam favorites like John Henry, Leather Britches and Home Sweet Home. You can see the full list of tunes on the Flatpick Jam Volume 4 site.

You can also get a taste of the format on this DVD by checking out the free lesson offered in October by Flatpicking Guitar, which offers the tab and MP3 audio for Brad’s version of Crazy Creek from this new DVD.

This Friday (6/20) offers two good chances to catch bluegrass artists online.

From noon to 1:00 p.m. (EDT), The Grascals will be performing live on Knoxville, TN station WDVX’s Blue Plate Special. The station broadcasts at 89.9 FM in the Knoxville market, and the show is streamed online at WDVX.com.

Then at 1:30 p.m., Brad Davis will be interviewed on WorldWideBluegrass.com. Brad will join WWB station manager Gracie Muldoon for her Muldoon In The Afternoon program to talk about what he’s been up to of late.

You can listen to WWB online, where they stream bluegrass music 24/7.

Hot shot flatpicker and singer/songwriter Brad Davis will be the featured artist on Friday’s (5/24) broadcast of The Blue Plate Special on WDVX, 89.9 FM from Knoxville, TN. This is a live performance program with a studio audience.

Flatpicking Guitar Magazine editor Dan Miller will be accompanying Brad on bass and second guitar.

The WDVX feed is streamed live online, and Blue Plate Special airs from noon to 1:00 p.m. Check out Brad’s set live, as there are no past show archives.

Brad Davis is featured in the second half of a recent broadcast of Michael Jonathan’s Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour. He was supported on the show by Flatpicking Guitar Magazine editor/publisher Dan Miller on bass, and brother, champion-picker Greg Davis on banjo.

They perform a number of songs from his most recent CD, This World Ain’t No Child, which also features contributions from such stellar artists as Earl Scruggs, Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Rob Ickes - and Billy Bob Thornton.

You can watch the video of Brad’s appearance as a Windows Media file. Rounder artist Vienna Tang also performs.

We posted back in November when CMT announced their Music City Madness video contest, timed and structured to coincide with the annual NCAA basketball tournaments. We mentioned at the time that CMT was hoping to get some bluegrass entries, and it looks like a couple have made it into the initial round of 64.

Buncombe Turnpike, a bluegrass band from western North Carolina, submitted a video for their song, Black Sedan. The video is nicely produced, and represents bluegrass well.

Our buddy Brad Davis has also been selected for his video of I’m Not Through Loving You Yet - directed by our own Brance Gillihan!

Cliff Wagner features old time banjo and dobro in his video for Old Fire, and Shady Grove does a credible grassy version of Rye Hill.

The voting is done in a bracket format, with each round involving match ups between pairs of videos. Whichever videos get the most votes in their pairings during round 1 will move on to the next in a single elimination tournament, just like in the NCAA. Voting in round 1 runs through February 26.

Visit the CMT Music City Madness Watch and Vote page to cast your ballot. Bumcombe Turnpike’s bracket is bottom left, Brad Davis’ near the bottom right. If any other bluegrass (or bluegrassy) videos are in the competition, please be sure to let us know.

Takamine may not be a name that most bluegrass guitar players think of when thinking of great bluegrass guitars, but flatpicking master Brad Davis tells me it will be. Brad helped Takamine design and develop a new dreadnought call the T Series. There will be both mahogany and rosewood models in the series which feature a dreadnought shape with no cut away and no hole cut for pre-amp electronics. Brad says it’s very “pleasing to the bluegrass eye.”

The guitars in the T Series will still come equipped with the standard Takamine pickup but it will be hidden from sight inside the guitar.

I was so blown away with this new guitar when I got it that I replaced several Tim McGraw tracks cut with my 6,000.00 bluegrass guitar with this new “T” bluegrass guitar. All traditional design and I still can’t believe how killer it sounds. This a guitar that loves a great studio microphone.

The mahogany model will retail for $1,800 and the rosewood version for $2,400. Takamine is planning to release the T Series guitars January 2007, at the Winter Namm Show in California.

My sources tell me the Grascals have already put in a request for a couple of these guitars for use on the road.

You can read more about the guitar and it’s development on Brad’s site.

We just got an update on this project from Brad Davis. He tells us the release date is set for November 21st, 2006. The label, CMH is currently evaluating songs on the project for release as a single. The title of the project is Where The Bluegrass Grows. At the present I couldn’t find any audio samples online, but I’ll update again when they become available. In the meantime, here’s the song list from the disc.

Songs:

• Real Good Man
• Indian Outlaw
• Where the green grass grows
• My best friend
• Please remember me
• Ain’t no angles - written by Brad Davis and Billy Montana
• Down on the farm
• I like it I love it
• Live like you were dying
• My thirty years
• Something like that

Brad Davis called me the other afternoon just to say hi, but as always I asked him what he had been up to. Brad is a busy guy. He produces a TV show, does his own touring, performs with Earl Scruggs, records and performs with Billy Bob Thornton, and produces. Like I said, he’s busy. After I asked, he told me about a couple new projects he’s involved with and I got his permission to share them with you here.

First, Brad is the co-writer for every song on a new CD by Billy Bob Thornton. Not only did Brad co-write all the material, he also plays and sings on the record. It’s not really bluegrass, but it can’t help but have some grass hidden in there somewhere when Brad is involved.

The other project he’s worked on recently is a bluegrass tribute to Tim McGraw. This is another CMH Records project similar to the Strummin’ With The Devil tribute to Van Halen. On this particular CD though, it’s really all Brad. Brad played guitar, mandolin and bass. He also sang all but one tune on the record. That one was sung by Billy Bob. Joining Brad on the CD are his brother Greg Davis on banjo, Rob Ickes on dobro, Hoot Hester on fiddle, and Larry Marrs on harmony vocals.

Brad produced this CD as well as being the principle musician on it. So, for all you Brad Davis fans this will be a must have I’m sure.

Interestingly, the CD is finished and I believe it’s already shipped to distribution, but I could find no info about it on the CMH website. Brad was calling me from the CMH parkinglot where he was picking up a box for himself. He promised to send me a copy, so I’ll be sure to share with you what I think after I receive it.

This months edition of Mel Bay’s Guitar Sessions Webzine features an artist profile of Brad Davis. It’s a very thorough interview that covers a lot of Brad’s background in the music and with the guitar specifically, as is evident from this quote.

The sound of the acoustic guitar captured my ear and inspired me to learn how to play it. Interestingly, when I was eight years old a family friend bought a 1956 Martin D-18 that once belonged to Norman Blake; the friend then sold it to my parents. They gave it to me for my eighth birthday and I still have that guitar.

If you have an interest in Brad’s guitar playing you should click on over and give it a read.

St. Louis Flatpick is scheduled to run March 10-12, offering midwest guitar pickers - and now banjo players as well - a chance to study with some well known and highly qualified instructors. In addition to guitar instructors Tim May and Brad Davis, and banjo instructor Ned Luberecki, our own John Lawless will be on the faculty teaching banjo classes.

The event is hosted by Bull and Tammy Harman, who are excited to repeat the event again this year, and for the chance to expand into banjo as well as guitar. Bull tells us that the banjo class is a bit smaller than the guitar, as one might expect for the first year, so banjo students can expect a great deal of personal attention from the instructors.

Find more details on the St. Louis Flatpick web site.

This post is a contribution from Brad Davis. Brad is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and recording engineer who has worked with a literal who’s-who of bluegrass music. Visit Brad online at braddavismusic.com.

As I sit here and hold back the tears, I have just heard the news that Louise Scruggs, the wife of folk legend Earl Scruggs had passed away this afternoon at 2:05 p.m. I never thought it would hit me this hard. I guess you never know ’till it happens. Her personality and presence had such a strong influence on my own life. She was a brave woman that was as focused as any man I’ve ever worked with. She’d step up to a challenge, re-adjust that strong look of confidence on her face comand all attention.

I’ve heard some say she was very cold or rude because of her quietness and stern business face, but the Louise I had the pleasure of knowing was a sweet and kind individual that, at all times, let you know where she stood. I could call her up, impersonating either Carl Childers or Johnn Cash, and make her laugh.

Louise, we love you and you won’t soon be forgotten. My prayers go out to Earl, Gary, Randy, Huge and family members.

Farewell country music’s greatest lady, Louise Scruggs.

Brad Davis

Brad Davis’ name should be familiar to regular readers of The Bluegrass Blog. He has served as one of our Guest Contributors, and we have posted a number of times about his various exploits as a performer, guitar instructor, songwriter and sideman.

The folks at Flatpicking Guitar Magazine have just released a new book/DVD/CD package which features Brad as instructor. Flatpicking The Blues is designed to both introduce the form and vocabulary of traditional 12 bar blues to flatpickers, and also show them how to incorporate these techniques into bluegrass and fiddle style flatpick guitar. Brad’s goal was to give experienced flatpickers enough of a feel for the blues to enable them to comfortably jam in that setting, and to show guitarists of any stylistic bent how to add a blues influence to their playing.

The package contains an 88 page book, with all the exercises and song examples from the DVD lesson shown in both tab and standard notation, plus a play-along audio CD with the various tunes from the video. To supplement the course material in the book and on the disks, Brad and Flatpicking Guitar Magazine have launched a new web site to provide ongoing and continuing areas of study for anyone wanting to explore blues guitar playing from a flatpicker’s perspective.

Brad Davis spoke with Bill Bay (of Mel Bay Publications) at the recent NAMM show and he told Brad that this was the most comprehensive and well organized instructional product he had ever seen. According to Bill:

“This is a great approach to teaching the blues to guitar players with a different background. It also helps them incorporate the blues accents into the other styles they play.”

Brad is excited about this course, and encourages everyone to make use of the additional materials provided on the supporting website.

Dan Miller of Flatpicking Guitar is offering a discounted price on Flatpicking The Blues for all orders received prior to February 1. More details and ordering info can be found on their web site.

This post is a contribution from Brad Davis. Brad is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and recording engineer who has worked with a literal who’s-who of bluegrass music. Visit Brad online at braddavismusic.com.

Several weekends ago, I was called to perform with the legendary Earl Scruggs in San Francisco at the Whitney Island festival. This was an americana festival showcasing a variety of music in a three day event in front of a sixty thousand plus crowd of hungry listeners. Earl Scruggs Family and Friends were to be one of the big headliners for this event.

After settling into the dressing room for several hours it was our time to perform. The band for that show consisted of Jennifer Kennedy, (known as the dobro girl), Gary Scruggs on bass and vocals, Keith Sewell on electric guitar and vocals, John Garner on drums, Jason Carter (Del McCoury’s fiddle player), Earl Scruggs, and myself on flattop and vocals.

Earl hardly ever says much unless he has something important to tell you, so it’s rare if he talks much at all. Just before the song Ballad Of Jed Clampett, while Gary was talking to the audience, I stood there beside Earl, both of us staring out at the sea of people, and Earl said in the straightest tone of voice, “Boy, you sure now how to draw a crowd.”

I laughed so hard I could hardly remember that I was supposed to be singing Jed Clampett. Earl Scruggs may be a man of few words, but when he does choose to say something, you can bet your bottom dollar it will be worth a listen!