Their next album is being mastered now, and the band should be able to approve the master soon. Bryan expects that it will be out sometime in the Spring of ‘10, but couldn’t offer an exact date.

The band has also just signed a new management deal with Veritas Music Management, which consists of Evert Wilbrink, Bill McInnes, and Joseph Spence. Bryan said that it was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.

“We were approached by Evert Wilbrink a few months back about working together in some capacity, just didn’t know exactly how – we started digging into Evert’s credentials (he has worked with Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, to name a few) and knew his experience and excitement for the band could be a potent combination. So this week’s signing was the fruition of that.”

And now for the bad news – I’ll let Bryan tell the tale…

“Okay now the events of last Saturday: you know we planned to leave Denver and Casselman’s on Friday night right after the show in order to get out ahead of a storm we had been warned about. Well, Grant Gordy (ridiculous guitarist from CO) came over to hang and that forced us to put our plans on the backburner and make a little music back in the green room.

Anyway, once we did leave, like 1 something, the roads were already too icy to keep going with tired eyes in tow. So we pulled over on the shoulder for a little shut eye. We fired it back up at daylight and a little ways down the road hit a patch of ice that spilled us off into the median, jack-knifing the trailer in the process, but no real damage done – we wiped off our brows and fired up ‘the Vault’ again.

We switched drivers (the names of who was driving during the moments under discussion are not necessary – Ross and Daniel already feel bad enough), and a few hours later we woke up to the ever-conspicuous phrase, ‘Here we go’… and once again we were sliding – from the right lane to the left and then back over, headed off a cliff on the Colorado-Kansas border.

We didn’t know if we were headed off of Wolfcreek Pass or what… Carried by the momentum of the trailer we went down a steep hill, were tossed from one side of ‘the Vault’ to the other, took out a barbed wire fence and turned the trailer over as we came to a stop.

It truly was the first time in my life I thought I was not gonna see another new day. Somehow nobody was in the least bit hurt nor was a single instrument or piece of equipment harmed. We’re very thankful for that. But recently my prayers changed from ‘God keep us safe’ to ‘God draw us closer to you today, no matter the cost,’ and I am most thankful for the perspective that God has given me through this.

Knowing that any minute I could be standing in front of Him with my life as my confession for loving and believing in Him. One of my favorite quotes is that of Martin Luther’s ‘I am living for this day and that day’- for a minute there I thought it was that day.’ “

They shot the video at Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville, TN – the home of the Bluegrass Underground radio show.

The video is being hosted by Paste Magazine online.

Click here to view the embedded video.

He sent along three tracks from the band’s current EP release, Weary Angel, for us to share with our readers. The EP is available from the C-Sky web site for only $5.00.

Here are the audio samples, along with a few comments from Bryan…

Weary Angel -  Listen now:   

“This is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written – easy to write, honestly… Me and my band mates have been the beneficiaries of many all-night, on-bended-knee vigils over the past few years, and this song was written and recorded with them in mind. David Mayfield’s recording debut with C-Sky…oh, and that’s Billy Cardine on the chanti rangi!”

Follow You Into The Dark -  Listen now:   

“A Death Cab for Cutie song that we have always loved and we had been singing in the show and  people seemed to be digging. Laid back and easy going. The alluring lilt of Jessica Lea Mayfield graces the chorus’. We will have the video for this available soon as well – directed by the great Roger Pistole – shot in The Cumberland Caverns (home of The Bluegrass Underground series).”

Video Killed The Radio Star -  Listen now:   

“We ask ourselves why not? and then we did it anyway. Complete with air pumps and rain sticks and the vocal debut of ‘The Panda!’ “

The C-Sky boys are also stoked about their next full-length CD, which is scheduled to begin tracking on September 2.

“Can’t wait – trying to capture what we do onstage on tape will be the mountain we’re trying to climb – the gloves are coming off on this one.”

At that time, he mentioned that C-Sky was intending to start work on a new full length recording soon, and that the EP was the result of a spontaneous decision to give in to a sudden creative urge on the band’s part.

Just yesterday, Bryan got some news that had the guys in a whirl. Their next project will be produced by a critically acclaimed artist from the world of blues and rock music.

“We just signed on with The Black Keys guitar front man Dan Auerbach to produce our new record in the fall. We’re all big fans of The Black Keys so we are super stoked about the opportunity.

It all happened rather quickly. David Mayfield was out playing bass on the road with his sister Jessica Lea Mayfield, opening up shows for The Black Keys, and passed on a copy of our Gravity’s Our Enemy CD to him. I guess he heard something that intrigued him because he mentioned, to our surprise, that he would be interested in working with us.

As Dan’s new solo record, Keep it Hid, will attest, he obviously has a history with roots music and its branches, and we were in love with the rawness of the past records he has produced, not to mention his solo and Black Keys stuff. So it seemed like a perfect fit.

We’re gonna try and capture the ferocity and energy of our live show on a full length record for maybe the first time. I think that on our new EP we just put out, The Weary Angel EP, as it has been dubbed, you can hear and feel that. I know that Dan’s goal in the studio is to capture a ‘magical’ performance, which doesn’t necessarily mean a ‘perfect’ one. So we will be doing almost everything live.

We’re going to be recording up at his place in Kent, OH starting September 1st using the same board that The Band recorded most of their amazing records on – so we’re hoping some of their ‘transcendent musical magic’ will still be left in the machine.

We hear Dan’s excited about it, we’re excited about it… It’s definitely got us inspired to write, arrange, and record the best record that we’ve ever made for sure. It will be different, but, having heard a bunch of songs that we will be recording, I know it’s going to be, by far, the deepest and most original thing we’ve ever recorded.”

Bryan said that they won’t worry much about working with a record company at this point, though that may come into the mix before this next project is ready for release.

“We are just going to make a record and then see what happens – we aren’t opposed to doing a label deal, but just want it to be the right label for us. Our plan is to make the best record we can and let God put us where He wants us. Outside of that, we’re not interested.”

C-Sky guitarist David Mayfield will be on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country this evening (6/10) to preview some tracks from Weary Angel, and perform a few songs live from his own upcoming solo project as well. His interview with Jen Hitt will run on The Free For All with Echo Propp at 7:00 p.m.

You can catch Bluegrass Country’s live audio stream online at www.bluegrasscountry.org. WAMU’s broadcast signal can be heard over the air at 88.5 HD2 or 105.5 FM in the DC metro area.

Two of the songs are C-Sky remakes of pop hits (I Will Follow You Into The Dark and Video Killed The Radio Star) and the others are two versions of the title track, a new song from the band’s mandolinist and lead vocalist, Bryan Simpson. A video has also been created for I Will Follow You Into The Dark, shot by Roger Pistole, who did the band’s video for Born Lonesome.

Bryan fills us in on how the new mini-release came to be…

“The Weary Angel will bridge the gap between our last full length release and a new project we hope to start working on in the fall. But the EP was necessary to satisfy our creative itch and to leave an artifact of who the band is right now – which is far different than the one that recorded Gravity’s Our Enemy… far different. The live show has evolved into new creative territory, and due to the great work God is performing in our group we are very inspired musicians – musically, spiritually – which is definitely making for some great honest conversation between the groups which blows the door open on the depth a band can go to musically…..the EP will be a quick peek behind that creative curtain

But the EP and the new video were never the plan. We actually did a show in the Cumberland Caverns (Bluegrass Underground) and, just the whole day – sound check and everything – was very emotional for us. Maybe it was where we were spiritually as a band when we played it but something was going on for sure. Coupled with the fact we had been wanting to put some more recent stuff on YouTube, we thought we would just shoot a live performance of us playing a song that we had been playing in our live shows (I Will follow…) that people seemed to dig next time we were around The Cumberland Caverns. So we did. But when we got in there it just seemed like we should do it all for real. So that very night around 10pm after Roger finished shooting the band in the cave playing it live, with one camera btw, we decided to go record the song in the studio – thought the song and the video deserved it. So in order to get our bearings, we went to downtown Nashville and had some sushi, then at midnight (to our engineer’s dismay) we started recording. We got in there and decided we wanted to record a few more things…and the EP was born.”

The Weary Heart will be a self-produced project, offered for sale from the band directly at shows, from their web site and on iTunes and other digital audio distributors. It marks their first recording since leaving the Skaggs Family Records stable after two successful projects there, and Simpson is grateful for the experience.

“At the end of 2008, it became very clear that Skaggs Family and Cadillac Sky were headed in two different directions. We are a better band, not to mention better men, for our time spent under Ricky’s tutelage.”

We’ll post again when more details about the EP and video release is available.

C-Sky’s Bryan Simpson says that a impromptu rehearsal in his dad’s garage turned into a video shoot.

Shot in Papa Simpson’s garage, the video, put together by the great Eric Maxwell, was thought to be lost forever until recently when it re-emerged…the world can breathe a deep sigh of relief now…..enjoy!

Video features include: an appearance by our legendary sound man, Daniel “DJ Dirty” Rice and some of Papa Simpson’s antique guns.”

This is the second music video that Eric Maxwell has created for the band.

The show will also include a performance from Chris West and Keith Garrett, the creative locus – and singing/songwriting power team – of Blue Moon Rising.

WDVX broadcasts from Knoxville, TN on 102.9 FM and can also be heard live online via audio streaming.

Blue Plate Special typically airs at noon during the week, but this Saturday edition is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (EST).

Muldoon In The Afternoon airs from noon to 2:00 p.m. (ET) each Friday afternoon, and Bryan’s segment is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

To listen to the 24/7 WWB audio stream online, just visit their streaming page, and choose a connection speed and file type.

As we reported last week, long-time guitarist Mike Jump has left with David Mayfield stepping in.

Yeah, a new guitarist is the order of the day. Before I introduce him, I would like to say a few words about ‘Big Daddy’ Mike Jump though….

I know all good things must come to an end. We’ve known this has been coming for a while. But even knowing that these things happen doesn’t make it any easier. Mike has been a big part of everything we’ve done from the start and we will miss him. We’ve made several records with him at the helm of the guitar including Blind Man Walking and our newest, Gravity’s Our Enemy which we are very proud of. He has given his heart and soul to this thing for four years and even as he exits, there is no doubt he will always be a part of C-Sky. But our musical visions for where Cadillac Sky was going had started to splinter and it was the best thing for both parties to head off into separate sunsets. I hope our fans will know that plenty of prayer went into this decision.

Now for a word or two about the new guy. David Mayfield is his name, although for the near future I’m sure he will remain ‘the new guy.’

Born in Ohio, David’s been on the road lately playing music with Andy Griggs, and with his (very talented) sister Jessica Mayfield touring with The Avett Brothers, and the rock act, The Black Keys. He grew up playing bluegrass and gospel music in his family band, One Way Rider – so he came by it honest. And we owe Tyler Grant a world of gratitude for tipping us off to David’s wide range of talents and helping us find the new piece to the puzzle.

But make no mistake, he is not here to quietly replace Mike Jump. Cadillac Sky would be doing a disservice to itself if we didn’t drain his talents dry. He is in this band to bring a new revolution to the next era of who Cadillac Sky is.

We played three shows this weekend with ‘Mayhem’ (a nickname we’ve taken under advisement), and in Chicago I announced that this was his second show for us. Some lady came over and asked what CD he was on of ours. When I reasserted that this was his second show – she said ‘I heard you say that but I didn’t believe it. He seems so inherent to what ya’ll do.’

So things are off to a roaring start. A wild start but still roaring. Cadillac Sky has been completely re-inspired by his entry and are so excited about what the future holds and so should ye olde fans of C-Skyness. But proof’s in the pudding (too southern?), so put it to the test, and come get a little on you at a live show near you.”

You can see the band’s performance schedule on their web site.

Mayfield is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter with many years’ experience in bluegrass and country music.

Ned tells us more…

“Mike’s last show with the band was at the Pickin’ In The Panhandle festival near Martinsburg, WV last weekend and David’s first show was last night in St. Louis. The C-Sky boys stopped by for a visit in our Nashville studios for a show which will air early next week.”

You can hear audio from David’s solo CD on his MySpace page. We are expecting some more details about the switch from C-Sky’s Bryan Simpson shortly.

One of our readers posted a review of David’s first show with the band over in The B, our reader-submitted section of The Bluegrass Blog.

Today’s show (9/3) features Gold Heart a terrific young family bluegrass group from northern Virginia. The band is made up of the singing Gold sisters, Analise, Jocelyn and Shelby, and their dad Trent along with Zach Gilmer. Their harmony is emblematic of why family singing groups have had such an exalted place in the history of bluegrass, and they play with intensity and passion.

On Thursday (9/4) the raucous, jam-grass Hackensaw Boys will perform, followed by bluegrass bad boys Cadillac Sky on Friday. Expect C-Sky to preview material from their new CD, Gravity’s Our Enemy, released in August on Skaggs Family Records.

Blue Plate Special originates from Knoxville, TN, where it airs weekdays at noon (ET) on 102.9 and 105.9 FM, and via the WDVX streaming broadcast over the Internet. No audio archives, so be sure to listen live.

Headliners this year are Texas five-piece Cadillac Sky, who released their second album, Gravity’s Our Enemy, on August 19. ukbluegrass spoke to the band’s singer and mandolin player Bryan Simpson about the new record and their upcoming visit to England.

In addition, there are appearances at the Didmartin festival by Growling Old Men (USA), and UK groups New Essex Bluegrass Band, Thunderbridge Bluegrass Boys, Down County Boys, Rabbi John and more. There is a full band listing and schedule at the festival’s website.

The full interview can found here.

Tonight (8/19) at 8:00 p.m. (EDT) the guys will be on the Tuesday Opry which airs in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville), and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

Then, at 10:00, their official CD release party begins at The Rutledge, hosted by XM Satellite Radio’s Kyle Cantrell. Everyone in attendance will get a free copy of Gravity’s Our Enemy, and C-Sky fans outside of the Nashville area can watch the proceedings live online at skaggsfamilyrecords.com.

Sounds like a big day in store.

Skaggs Family is running a special promotion for pre-orders received online prior to August 16. When you place an order, you’ll be entered to win an iPod Nano pre-loaded with both Cadillac Sky recordings, plus all pre-orders will receive a free download card for exclusive C-Sky digital content.

Full details on the Skaggs Family web site.

This first clip has mandolinist Bryan Simpson and fiddler Ross Holmes discussing the new project and the “secrets” within.

It’s not really a single release, but one of the tracks from the new project is now available online at reverbnation.com. You can also give the song a listen in the player embedded below.

Says Bryan of this track…

“The tune’s called Inside Joke and it’s about a crazy dream I had one night. It serves as therapy for the band everytime we play it.”

Well, it’s all finished and Gravity’s Our Enemy is set for an August 19 release on Skaggs Family Records.

We hooked up with Bryan once again last week to find out a bit about the new project.

“The title of the record is lifted from the lyrics of a song on the record called Carousel. We thought it was appropriate based on several things. With the last record referencing ‘walking,’ and with us attempting to really make this thing ‘fly’ with the new record, we thought Gravity’s Our Enemy was kind of cool.

But I also think of the ‘gravity’ in the title as sort of like the ‘gravity’ of our situation. I mean, we’ve got wives and kids now and they deserve our attention and that sort of prevents constant touring which would probably be the best thing for the band (maybe not for our lives but for the band), and there’s gravity to that. And just simply coming from the reference point of bluegrass – with our instrumentation,etc – and trying to take our music to more diverse audiences – that certainly can work against you at times – sort of the stereotypical presumptions that occur before you’ve even played a note. So there’s gravity to that.

But the record name chooses the ‘gravity’ of our situation as an adversary – because, be not fooled, we have no plans for defeat- we plan on rising above and getting our feet off the ground – very soon!!”

On this album, the band enlisted the aid of an outside producer, noted mandolinist and producer Mike Marshall.

“Blind Man Walking we produced ourself – so this new producer was a lot easier to work with – not such a hot head like the last. No, honestly, we co-produced this record with our new musical guru, Mike Marshall! And it was awesome.

We got together a couple of weeks before the session down in Florida at his brother Al’s house. Al had just had four nuns stay at his house – so I think we made him a nervous wreck but he was very gracious. Anyway, Mike was so laid back and easy going with his suggestions that it made everything flow so easy. Not to mention he’s a man after our own hearts – he loves food and likes to eat it. So it was a love connection from the get go. We’d work for a little while and then Mike would whoop together some crazy gourmet meal out of some celery and cheese, and olive oil, or whatever.

We recorded the record the tracks starting on a Monday and finishing on a Friday one week in March- and then guest work got done a few weeks later. So it was pretty quick- kind of like a wedding- you prepare unnervingly for so long – and then it’s over really fast. And to continue that metaphor, I guess once it’s recorded you are ‘married’ to it for the near future….

I don’t know how we’ll make another record without Mike – a true inspiration and, even better, a true friend.”

Bryan also spoke about a few of the songs featured on Gravity’s My Enemy.

“I really dig this record so choosing a few songs to mention is like a parent picking their favorite child. I mean the record’s got a little of every emotion on it. I can tell you my wife’s favorites are Inside Joke – which is one of two songs scribbled down after a crazy dream – The Wreck being the other, and then the last song on the CD called Too Good To Last – sort of a lament about living in the moment.

The Wreck is my favorite I guess because of how it came to me. I had this dream where me and the other guys were sitting in this auditorium and out walked Andy Falco of the Infamous Stringdusters with a guitar thrown across his back and blowing on a harp like Bob Dylan, humming the first part of the melody. I looked around at the other guys and they seemed to love it – and I woke up wishing I had written it – to quickly realize, I could still write it. So I rushed into the other room, sang the melody and a few lines into my home phone (calling my cell phone) around 4 in the morning – making my wife crazy – but happy to have Andy give me a great song, royalty free… I think (we’re still in negotiations).”

Bryan suggested that this new CD is a better reflection of who the band is than their previous release, Blind Man Walking, which has been their constant companion this past three years.

“We are different people in so many respects than we were then. This music is representative of our experiences and life changing moments the last three years, not to mention the different music that has entered our ears while driving around in ‘the vault’ (our van) for endless amounts of hours over the last three years. And also, I think, the time in between making BMW and Gravity’s has granted us a confidence musically to look deeper inside ourselves and find our true voice, so to speak. But I also realize that when we make the next record it will be a more exact commentary than this one- so they’ll all have their own personality I’m sure.

We just want people to just listen to the record in its entirety – we really feel like the songs go together like a jigsaw puzzle, and that all 14 tracks tell a different part of the story that is Gravity’s Our Enemy.

Repeat after me – Aug. 19th on Skaggs Family Records!!”

Recently, I was alerted to the appearance on Kentucky Educational Television’s Jubilee stage of California’s High Country, one of the West Coast’s premier traditional bluegrass bands. Being partial to their music, I thought I would investigate. I found a series of airings with sufficient interest to enthral fans of a variety of bluegrass persuasions for weeks to come.

Starting on Wednesday (6/25) with Lonesome River Band there’s a different band featured for each week through to the end of August, with each showing being available through to the weekend, Friday excepted in all cases.

A quick scan of the schedule reveals appearances on the programm by the aforesaid Butch Waller and High Country (commencing July 2), Foghorn Stringband (July 9), Berline-Crary-Hickman (July 16), Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper with Audie Blaylock (July 23), The Rascals (July 30), Adrienne Young & Little Sadie and Cadillac Sky (August 6), Danny Paisley & Southern Grass (August 13), The Fairwell Drifters and Blue Moon Rising (August 20) and Timberline Drive paired with Jake Quesenberry & The MacRae Brothers (commencing Thursday, August 28).

Each of these bands were recorded at last year’s River of Music Party in Owensboro, Kentucky.

The Jubilee series is a KET production, distributed to public television stations nationwide. The series is directed by Nick Helton and produced by Duncan Hart. Nancy Carpenter is executive producer.

More information about Jubilee is available online.

More information about KET programming and education services, as well as how to support KET, can be found at www.ket.org.

Bryan Simpson shared this news there last week:

So six tunes have been thrown down to this point. “Wouldn’t Put it past Love”, “Inside Joke”, “Goodbye Story”, “Everybody’s Favorite”, “My Precious Waltz/I Hate How Happy She is”, and “Bible by the Bed”……. In the process of recording, somebody from our label came into get some multimedia stuff for the web site- and to expose how we are getting more toasted by the minute – we stood perfectly posed without saying a word for several minutes in front of a VIDEO CAMERA!?….

This morning he reports that the basic tracks have been completed, that vocals will be recorded shortly and that a late summer release on Skaggs Family Records is expected

The good folks at Skaggs Family were kind enough to send us a copy and give the go ahead to post it here for our readers.

Enjoy…