Once again, Claire Lynch is out to disprove the old canard about bluegrass fans being little more than illiterate hillbillies. Last year she held a competition where her fans submitted bluegrass-themed haiku. Now, she has launched a new contest challenging entrants to tell their life story in just six words.

She is calling it her spring creative writing contest, officially dubbed Go Short, Win Big with Claire! The winner - to be chosen by Claire, herself - will receive a 1 GB iPod Shuffle, preloaded with all six of her Rounder releases.

The competition kicks off today (4/22) and will run through May 31, 2008. The official rules are as follows:

• No more than two entries per person
• Submit your six-word bio to clairelynchband@gmail.com
• Include your name, email address, city and state
• Deadline for entry: May 31, 2008

Claire offers this bit of advice for those considering an entry:

“The most important thing? Heed the moral of CLB guitarist Jim Hurst’s six-word bio: ‘Procrastination keeps me from completing my.’ Pick up your pen and get creative - you may find it’s worth your while!”

You can find more details, and an online video explaining the contest, on Claire’s web site.

Rebel Records has recently announced news of the forthcoming release on March 25 of a various Artists collection entitled Best Loved Bluegrass: 20 All-Time Favorites (REB-8004).

The 20 song anthology embraces some of the classic songs in bluegrass music from some of the great acts in the business (track listing below).

So many of the songs here are inextricably linked with the Rebel catalogue; Bringing Mary Home, Fox On The Run and Atlanta Is Burning being three notable examples. These are signature songs as is Love Of The Mountains. There are the tour de force pieces like Rice’s Nine Pound Hammer and JD Crowe’s Train 45 also.

Most of the material is direct from the Rebel vaults, whereas some came to them indirectly, such as - and I speculate here - the Lilly Brothers track, which was originally recorded for Event Records in 1956 or 1957 and later appeared on a County LP. It was subsequently reissued on a Rebel CD (1688). Others in this category are Little Rosewood Casket - Don Reno & Red Smiley (from a Wango LP), Footprints In The Snow - Mac Wiseman (Vetco material, perhaps), Poor Ellen Smith - Ted Lundy & the Southern Mountain Boys (County), Pig In A Pen - Stanley Brothers (Wango) and Lonesome Road Blues - Larry Richardson & Happy Smith (County).

There’s lots of fine traditional material here, which is typical of this series, and which, apparently, has been doing very well for Rebel. Judging by the titles and the artists listed, the potential for this set to match its predecessors is great.

For those who have a long-time interest in bluegrass music the songs and the respective bands speak for themselves; for newcomers this album is a good place to start investigating the Rebel catalogue.

Thanks must be made to Gary Reid for sharing his thoughts on some aspects of this collection.

Complete track list… (more…)

There are a number of great opportunities to catch some live bluegrass on TV and radio over the next few days, many being streamed online.

Today (1/15) at noon eastern, Balsam Range will be performing live on WDVX from Knoxville, TN. The show is streamed live online.

At 1:00 p.m., Claire Lynch will join host Gracie Muldoon for an interview on WorldWideBluegrass.com.

The Friday Opry from The Ryman on WSM will feature the Opry debut of The Steeldrivers, along with sets from The Whites and Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys.

Saturday’s (1/16) Opry show has The Whites again, plus The Del McCoury Band, The Grascals and Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press. Both Opry shows are steamed online at wsmonline.com.

On Sunday’s (1/27) Fox & Friends show on Fox News, Rhonda Vincent will be a guest. The show airs from 7:00-9:00 a.m. (EST).

We got a note from Mark Schatz about his soon-to-be new gig playing bass with Claire Lynch.

Mark had been unable to get back with us when we posted recently about him coming aboard, and wanted to share a few thoughts about the move with everyone here.

“After four exciting and formative years with Nickel Creek I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be joining up with the Claire Lynch Band as of February 1st. As most of you know, Missy Raines has decided to step down after a long, musically and personally fulfilling association with Claire in order to devote her full time and attention to her own solo project. I’m a big fan of Missy’s - she toured with Mark Schatz and Friends and played on my Steppin’ in the Boiler House CD. I think she always sounded great with the CLB and I’m going to do my best to fill those talented, groovin’ shoes.

I had my first rehearsal with the band just this past week and was well pleased and encouraged by the wonderful range of material and the versatility of fellow band members Jim Hurst and Jason Thomas. Of course I’ve always been a huge fan of Claire’s singing since my earliest days on the bluegrass trail - I think she’s a world class talent to whom I’m proud to bring the skills that I have honed in my own acoustic/bluegrass experience. Count on seeing some of my flatfooting and clawhammer banjo playing as well as we embark on this new and exciting phase of our musical journey.”

Claire Lynch will be appearing on WNCW’s Goin’ Across The Mountain program on Saturday (1/12) at 2:00 p.m. (EST).

She and her fine band will perform live in the station’s Studio B, where they will also chat with host Dennis Jones. This show will be among the last before Missy Raines will take her leave, with Mark Schatz set to step in on bass.

The WNCW signal is available as a free online audio feed if you can’t catch their broadcast at 88.7 FM in the Charlotte, NC area.

Claire Lynch has announced that Mark Schatz will come aboard as her new bass player in The Claire Lynch Band.

Mark has been part of some of the most important ensembles in recent bluegrass/acoustic music history, and is also a recognized solo recording artist, instructor, producer and traditional clog dancer. Until they disbanded (for now) in November ‘07, he had been performing with Nickel Creek, and had done time with Tim O’Brien, Béla Fleck, Emmy Lou Harris, Tony Rice and Jerry Douglas, among others.

Claire’s band now includes Schatz on bass, Jim Hurst on guitar and Jason Thomas on mandolin and fiddle, with Lynch on guitar and vocals. You can find their tour schedule online.

Missy Raines has announced that she will leave her position as bass player with The Claire Lynch Band, her musical home for the past 12 years, to focus full-time on her own group, Missy Raines & The New Hip.

The band features Missy on bass with the assistance of Michael Wichter on resonator guitar, Megan McCormick on guitar, Ethan Ballinger on mandolin and Lee Holland on percussion.

Missy said that she would send us some details shortly about the band’s plans for ‘08 and beyond, and we’ll post an update as soon as we hear back from her.

We wish her well in her new career as a band leader.

Our UK correspondent, Richard F. Thompson, shares this review.

Claire Lynch has recorded five CDs for the Rounder label previously. The latest, Crowd Favorites (Rounder 0600), consists of several songs in a ‘best of’ collection that in typical fashion these days includes a few new recordings - in this instance, four out of a total of 14 tracks.

Ms. Lynch is a very talented singer with a distinctive voice that is so well suited to the bluegrass, jazz, folk and swing numbers found throughout this album. The evocative and pensive The Day That Lester Died captures an historic incident that is so momentous; the song cleverly relates what the writer/singer was doing at the time. A JFK moment! Other highlights are the swinging Fallin’ In Love and the up-tempo If Wishes Were Horses a great bluegrass reading of a Gretchen Peters song.

Six of the songs were written by Claire Lynch, albeit often with others, the jazzy Jealousy and at the other extreme, Friends For A Lifetime, a loving expression of hope for a long-lasting mother-child relationship, are just two examples of those top quality songs.

At eight minutes long, the original arrangement for Wabash Cannonball, is just as much a showcase for Jim Hurst’s exceptional guitar playing and for Missy Raines’ bass soloing as it is for Ms. Lynch’s vocals. Contrastingly, there’s a noticeably fuller sound to Silver And Gold and Sweethearts Darlin’ Of Mine, both from the same CD originally.

Three of the new recordings are re-done versions of songs from Lynch’s time as a member of Front Porch String Band. Being based in Alabama for much of her life it is natural that Ms. Lynch should write and sing about Hills Of Alabam. Another piece of the Deep South is heralded in Kennesaw Line, the moving story of a personal account of events from the Confederate point of view during a Civil War battle in north Georgia.

Mainstays in supporting Lynch are Missy Raines (bass), Jim Hurst (guitar and vocals), Jason Thomas (fiddle ) - all members of Lynch’s current band - former husband Larry Lynch (mandolin and bazouki) and Rob Ickes (Dobro®). There’s some stellar moments from several other sidemen, most notable is the Cajun fiddling of the late Randy Howard.

Crowd Favorites is a good showcasing of Claire Lynch’s varied vocal talents.

When we noted the release of Claire Lynch’s new CD earlier this month, we mentioned that audio samples were not available yet online.

Well, they are now. Rounder Records has samples from all 14 tracks of Crowd Favorites up on their web site. The CD is part of Rounder’s Cream Of The Crop series, which feature both pre-released and new tracks on a single disc.

Claire’s mixes 10 tracks from her previous Rounder projects with four newly-recorded encores of popular songs from her Front Porch String band days.

Claire Lynch’s latest Rounder release, Crowd Favorites, is out this week. As we mentioned in an earlier post, the CD includes both previously-released tracks from her prior Rounder projects, and four re-recorded songs from her Front Porch String Band days.

There are no audio samples up yet on the Rounder site, but they have posted an interview with Claire in which she discusses her choices for the songs on this CD, and why it is titled as it is.

I have a great community of fans that I communicate with by an email newsletter I send every month or so. When I started working on this CD, I asked them to nominate their favorites. We really got an onslaught of song suggestions in reply, often with well-crafted arguments about why a particular song had to be included. We couldn’t include them all, but it was fun and often touching to hear what people said in that process.

Read the full interview on the Rounder web site.

As we reported back in June, Claire Lynch’s next CD is set for an October 9 release on Rounder. Crowd Favorites is a “compilation with benefits” project, mixing 10 previously released tracks from her several Rounder projects with four newly recorded reworkings of songs she had performed with the Front Porch String Band.

A full track listing can be found on Rounder’s site, though no audio samples are available at this time.

You can, however, hear all 14 tracks tomorrow (9/20) on XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction (track 14) at 3:00 p.m. (EDT). Claire will discuss each song with host Kyle Cantrell, who will spin the entire CD over the course of the program.

If you miss the show on Thursday, look for it to be rebroadcast on Sunday (9/23) at 6:00 p.m., Monday (9/25) at 9:00 a.m. and Friday (9/28) at 8:00 p.m.

Claire Lynch fans have something to look forward to later this year. Rounder will be releasing a new project featuring ten tracks from previous Lynch albums, along with four newly re-recorded songs. It will be titled Crowd Favorites - a Claire Lynch Collection, and is projected for release in October.

Claire explained how the material was chosen:

“The songs were picked based upon several things - warm crowd response, frequent and repeated requests from fans, and even an informal poll I conducted with members of my mailing list. Then we have re-cut four other songs… old ones from Front Porch String Band days (Kennesaw Line, Wabash Cannonball and Hills of Alabam’) and another I wrote called The Day that Lester Died… from Mark Newton’s ‘girl project’ [Follow Me Back To The Fold - A Tribute To Women In Bluegrass] a few years ago.”

She produced these “new” tracks, and recorded them exclusively with the members of her band - Missy Raines, Jim Hurst and Jason Thomas.

I expressed my appreciation to Claire for revisiting Kennesaw Line, one of my favorite tracks from the Front Porch String Band days. It’s a Civil War ballad, based on a recounting by a Confederate soldier of events he witnessed as Sherman’s army engaged the southern forces near Marietta, GA.

I have no doubt that the Claire Lynch Band version will be superb as well.

Jason Thomas has joined The Claire Lynch Band, assuming the position on mandolin, fiddle and vocals recently vacated by David Harvey. He is a multinational award winner, having taken the top place in the Canadian Open Mandolin Championship and the Florida State Championships for both mandolin and fiddle - twice.

Born in Toronto, Jason now lives in Orlando, FL where he has performed for some time at both Disney World and Universal Studios. He has been a member of Kane’s River, with whom he still performs.

He joins Jim Hurst on guitar and vocals, Missy Raines on bass and vocals and, of course, Claire Lynch on guitar and lead vocals.

Find The Clair Lynch Band schedule on their web site.

BluegrassCountry.org is featuring a live concert performance by the Claire Lynch Band in their Special Programming segment from now until the end of May. The show was recorded last month in DC, and marked the final appearance of long-time mandolinist David Harvey with the band.

BluegrassCountry.org offers live, streaming bluegrass music online, 24 hours each day.

Check their schedule to find when the Special Programming runs each day and catch Claire’s live show.

Claire Lynch and her talented band will be the guests on Friday morning (3/23) with Carole Beaugard on Lonesome Pine RFD. The show airs from 10:00 a.m. until noon (eastern) on WFDU FM, broadcast from the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey.

The band will perform live in the WFDU studio, and will also join Carole for a group interview during the show. You can catch them over the air at 89.1 FM in the New York city metropolitan area, over on the Internet via live streaming.

The Claire Lynch Band features Missy Raines on bass, Jim Hurst on guitar and Dave Harvey on mandolin and fiddle.

Lonesome Pine RFD airs each Thursday from 6:00-9:00 a.m., and on Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to noon.

Brance told us in early February that mandolinist Davide Harvey would be leaving his position with The Claire Lynch Band.

Claire has just posted an open letter which David wrote to fans and friends of the band, to share the reasons why he had reluctantly come to the conclusion that he had to make this move. These include the demands of his position at Gibson, and a desire to be at home to spend time with his young daughter.

“Folks, this isn’t farewell….our music community is small and it is a comfort to me to know that my family and I will see you at music events from time to time. I have many projects in the works….I have started production on Moody Bluegrass, Volume II, and will hopefully release a solo project in the near future. I also plan to continue live performances as I can.”

Read David’s letter in full on Clair’s site.

In the midst of all the announcements of new bands and changing personnel that have been made this year, there is one that we have yet to mention. After 8 years, Jim Hurst and Missy Raines have decided to call an end to their performing together as a duo. Both will continue to tour and record as members of The Claire Lynch Band, but Jim and Missy both felt that the time commitments with Claire, and their other side projects, simply left them with too little time for too many projects.

Missy has a new band with whom she will perform as time allows. She’s calling it Missy Raines & The New Hip, a play on words relating to her recent surgery - and the youth of her bandmates. They are working now on a debut CD project and some audio is available on their MySpace page, along with their limited tour schedule.

Jim will be dedicating some more time to teaching at workshops and clinics, and doing some duo shows with Steve Smith. Jim’s schedule is listed on his web site.

Claire Lynch is currently auditioning mandolin players to fill the role being vacated by longtime band member David Harvey. Harvey has been a member of the band for the last thee and half years and has contributed significantly to the band’s sound in that time. He has recently announced that he will be leaving the group this spring and the search is on for his replacement.

The band is now auditioning mandolin players… additional skills on fiddle preferred. Vocals (low tenor to Claire’s lead) a must.

Those interested in the position must be willing to tour extensively, as evidenced by the band’s tour schedule, and must also be capable of performing in both traditional bluegrass style and outside the “bluegrass box.”

Inquiries concerning the gig should be directed to: clairelynchband@gmail.com

We posted early in January when Claire Lynch launched her January Bluegrass Haiku contest, with entry information. The judges have now carefully reviewed the many entries, and winning poems have been selected. Claire announced the winners in her monthly email newsletter, one first prize and two honorable mentions.

Claire says that she was floored by both the quality and the quantity of the entries she received.

We were bowled over! You all made it tough on our judges by submitting so many creative entries - by turn melancholy, funny, tender, and witty (with lots of banjo joke themes, as you would expect…)

The overall winner came from Traci Todd of Nashville, TN. The judges were taken by the way she wove the titles of three bluegrass classics into the haiku form.

The two honorable mentions both evoke a wintertime feel. The first comes from Alan O’Bryant, of Nashville Bluegrass Band fame.

The next is from Cindy Jackson.

Congratulations to the winners, and hats off to Claire for designing a promotion with such literary flair. Who says bluegrassers are unlettered and illiterate?

Our friends at The European Bluegrass Blog have noted that Claire Lynch has scheduled a one-week European tour for the first week of May ‘07.

She’ll perform in Austria, Holland and Germany, and promoter Karl Heinz Siber indicates particular excitement about the final show, at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater in Oldenberg, Germany. It has received corporate sponsorship and he is hopeful of having an annual bluegrass concert in this classic hall designed and built for superior acoustics.

These European shows are not yet listed on Claire’s site, but more details can be found on The European Bluegrass Blog.