Flatpicking Guitar Magazine has released their latest concert DVD, following the familiar theme of grouping popular flatpickers they have set with previous releases.

Guitarmageddon, co-produced with SimpleFolk Productions, showcases three young flatpicking firebrands who have been making their presence felt in bluegrass this past few years. Chris Eldridge, Andy Falco and Josh Williams are featured in this one hour DVD performing live at Nashville’s storied Station Inn in a variety of settings.

The three each offer solo arrangements, are paired as duos, pick as a trio, and are joined by Cody Kilby on banjo and Mike Bub on bass for some rockin’ bluegrass numbers. Each of the three guitarists are interviewed, as is J.T. Gray, current owner of the Station Inn.

A total of 15 songs are included, among them favorites like Cherokee Shuffle, East Tennessee Blues, Jesse James, Nine Pound Hammer, and Salt Creek.

There doesn’t seem to be a video sample up online yet, but they may be posted soon on Flatpicking Guitar’s YouTube channel.

You can find more details in the Flatpicking Guitar online store.

Our friend Tony Williams, promoter of the Kentucky Lake Bluegrass Festival, recently contacted us with news concerning a benefit concert being organized in his area of Kentucky.

The concert is to benefit Mr. Scottie Henson, one of the charter members of the Jackson Purchase Friends of Bluegrass, the organization behind many bluegrass events in Western Kentucky. Henson is known to the bluegrass community as an instructor, as well as a member of The Kentucky Opry in Draffenville, KY. Recently Henson underwent double aortic aneursm surgery at Vanderbilt Medical Center.

The surgery went well, but shortly after the operation Scottie started being plagued by all kinds of setbacks, including pneumonia and kidney failure, but through the miracles of medical science and the prayers of hundreds of his friends, he has survived, and has now been moved to Select Specialty Hospital in Nashville to begin a long and difficult rehabilitation. His wife and daughter have been with him in Nashville since August 28, 2007 sleeping on the sofas in Vanderbilt Surgical Intensive Care waiting room, and in Motels, and eating every meal out the entire time.

Now that the worst is past and Henson seems to be recovering, Josh Williams, who had Scottie as his first musical instructor, along with the Campbell Family, the proprietors of The Kentucky Opry, JPFOB, and members of Henson’s home church, the Hamlet Baptist Church, have planned this benefit to help defray the medical costs not covered by Henson’s insurance.

Joining Josh Williams will be the other two members of the soon to be FGM DVD release Guitarmageddon, Andy Falco and Chris Eldridge.

The show is scheduled to take place at The Kentucky Opry on December 7, 2007 from 7 PM to Midnight. There is no set price for admission, they ask that attendies simply make a donation to the fund.

The Kentucky Opry is located 5 miles North of Benton, Kentucky on U.S. Highway 641 North. It is also six miles south of Kentucky Dam Village State Park. It is less than one mile from the Purchase Parkway South via Exit 47, and only 5 1/2 miles off Interstate 24 at Kentucky Exit 25A.

As they had promised earlier this summer, The Infamous Stringdusters have some new live tracks for free download on their MySpace page. The new tunes are This Weary Heart and 40 West, offering a fine chance to hear this young band on a Stanley Brothers classic and one of their more progressive instrumentals.

Both were recorded at The Livery in Harbor Springs, MI on July 13. Listen closely for Critter’s (Chris Eldridge) reaction to the end of his guitar solo on This Weary Heart.

The Dusters have now bidden farewell to Eldridge. This past weekend marked his last show with the band, commemorated on YouTube with video of a mega jam with both The Infamous Stringdusters and The Sam Bush Band on a rousing version of Rolling In My Sweet Baby’s Arms.

Long time readers of The Bluegrass Blog realize that I am something of a cheerleader for The Infamous Stringdusters. I had been mightily impressed when I saw them several years ago as Wheel House. They knocked me over two years ago as The Stringdusters, and when they “emerged” at IBMA last year as The Infamous Stringdusters – with a Sugar Hill recording contract – I was sure great things were ahead for these young pickers.

Last night here in Roanoke, they packed a trendy, downtown nightspot and proceeded to demolish the assembled throng of music lovers and fans. The two sets mixed cuts from their Sugar Hill debut, Fork In The Road, with new band compositions, some bluegrass classics, and even a few songs they had just been working up backstage.

What strikes me as rare with this bunch is their ability to mix genres so smoothly, with enough progressive/modern/newgrass edge to attract younger listeners, and a sufficient amount of unadulterated grass to please the hard core purists. I saw them go from a long, jammy instrumental with a rock flavor, to a smooth and wholly traditional take on The Stanley Brothers Lonesome River.

They are clearly comfortable in this small club environment, and worked both the early evening “meet and greet” bunch and the late night stragglers with just the right vibe. The highlight for me was the very end of the show, where they encouraged everyone to leave their seats and join the band in front of the stage for a three song, unamplified conclusion. This kicked with Uncle Pen and closed with Blue Night, both showing that despite their occasional wandering from the trail Bill Monroe blazed, they are right at home with his music in a straightahead style.

The Infamous Stringdusters are Chris Pandolfi (Panda) on banjo, Jeremy Garrett on fiddle/vocals, Chris Eldridge (Critter) on guitar, Travis Book on bass/vocals, Jesse Cobb on mandolin and Andy Hall on Dobro/vocals.

Each is a superb musician, worthy of a good many pixels of praise, but I am consistently impressed in particular by the ChrisDusters – Eldridge and Pandolfi. (more…)