Carol spoke with Claire about her latest Rounder CD, Whatcha Gonna Do, which was released on September 15. They will also play some tracks from the new album during the show.

Here is a brief sample of Claire’s remarks from the interview…

“This truly is a quantum leap for the band. We wanted the album to reflect a very pared down, ‘band’ sound and it gives each of the members a chance to really shine. Our sound is broader. The Americana market is really established now and the album fits a wide range of tastes and we’ve been so delighted with the response we’re getting. The album appeals to so many different audiences – people that love bluegrass, country and folk music and that’s so gratifying. As artists we want to play to as many people as possible and offer them music that sings to their hearts.

We were especially pleased with the wonderful feedback we got from all the bluegrass DJs we met recently at the IBMA WOB conference just held in Nashville. So many of the DJs made a point to let us know how much they loved the album and they really welcomed the material and our sound as ‘refreshing’. It was great to see how much the bluegrass audience loves the album.”

Lonesome Pine RFD runs from 9:00 a.m. to noon, with Claire’s interview set to run at 11:00. You can listen over the air at 89.1 FM in NYC, or online via live streaming at www.wfdu.fm. The show is archived for two weeks on the WFDU site should you miss it in real time.

Never one to shy away from her southern roots, the album is titled Whatcha Gonna Do, taken from the name of one of the tracks. Her voice, both speaking and singing, reveals itself as belonging to a Gentle Southern Lady, which, of course, she is. Living now near Nashville, she was born and raised in northern Alabama where her musical skills were honed.

I first ran into Claire in the late 1970s when she was fronting the modern bluegrass group Front Porch String Band. Both her band and one I was in at the time competed at the first Kentucky Fried Chicken bluegrass band competition in Louisville, KY. She struck me then as a sincerely gracious as well as a talented person, and nothing in the intervening years has challenged that first impression.

This new CD shows what happens when you combine wonderful songs with a gifted and expressive vocalist. As has been her wont, Lynch puts little in the way of these two crucial elements. The arrangements are understated, the performances restrained, with the end result being that the listener is left appreciating what’s important – the singing and the songs.Her band is composed of such virtuoso musicians as Jim Hurst, Marck Schatz and Jason Thomas in her band, and their contributions are always supportive rather than swaggering or showboating.

Claire produced this CD, as she has her previous few recordings, and wrote or co-wrote four of the twelve songs on Whatcha Gonna Do. One is a duet with pop singer/songwriter Jesse Winchester on his song, That’s What Makes You Strong, a collaboration she has returned in kind.

“We met Jesse around a year before the recording at a festival where we were both playing in Florida, although I had known of his career and was acquainted with some of his songwriting for a long time. We were stricken with his poignant, powerfully gentle performance and blown away by his songs. In greeting him backstage, we were delighted to find out he was equally impressed with what we had done during our show. Thus began our mutual admiration.

Not only did Jesse sing on my new record, but I had an opportunity to sing on his most recent release, Love’s Filling Station, too.”

To give a taste of the breadth of material covered on this CD, here are three audio samples along with Lynch’s reflections on the songs.

My Florida Sunshine – Listen Now    

“My Florida Sunshine is the grassiest cut on the album and really stands by itself without any other songs on the project that feel akin to it. So some may think we put it on there to defend ‘the bluegrass turf.’  Not so, really. I just have always loved the song and thought it was cool.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Florida and the bluegrass scene down there that thrived while we were ‘comin’ up’ in the Front Porch String Band days. We spent a lot of time down there and still do… the ties are strong for me. I first head this song on an 8-track tape back in the 1900’s from Bill Monroe. Never forgot it and always wanted to resurrect it. I’m glad we had a chance to cut it, finally!”

The next two are songs that also touch on the Southern heritage mentioned above, one Claire had written, and the other one she discovered by chance.

Barbed Wire Boys – Listen Now    

“Barbed Wire Boys was a song I heard on recommendation from a friend in Birmingham. I downloaded it from the author’s own project (Susan Werner) and sat in my hotel room and listened. When I got through listening, I stood up and paced the floor and exclaimed to myself, ‘Oh my God, oh my God!’ It just hit me that powerfully. There’s something so achingly sad and so royally noble at the same time about the men of this generation and their chosen lot in life.  I feel that they offered my generation a foundation that I hope we won’t allow to crumble.

‘They were just like Atlas holding up the sky… You never heard him speak, you never saw him cry.’

On the other side of the ‘gender coin,’ I feel that many women can relate to this same type of quiet resolve when we become wives and mothers…  The fact that Susan addressed the whole subject so eloquently was an expression of pure art.”

Woods of Sipsey – Listen Now    

“Woods of Sipsey was one I just had to write after driving into the backwoods of Walker County, Alabama – traveling to our Granny’s house where we were to say good bye to her little farm for the last time.  She was in the hospital and we knew now she would never return home. The area seems untarnished by the modern world, wilderness-like and wild — and the people are Alabama country folk.

Not many outsiders go into those woods, and I dare say not many of the folks in those little towns care to come out. Granny was content to live there… she knew where she belonged and what she loved. I just wanted to speak what I thought was her heart, based upon my life-experience with her.

Once the guys (Jason, Mark, Jim) put their musical ideas into the track, the song became a thing of beauty. We have wonderful reactions from the crowds to this one when we perform it…  considering the melancholy tone of the song, it’s surprising to me, but I’m purely delighted by that.”

You can hear audio samples from all 12 tracks in iTunes. There isn’t a weak one in the bunch.

Claire is featured on the cover of this month’s Bluegrass Unlimited, which includes a feature by Larry Nager about her music and this new release. One particular passage near the beginning of the piece stirred up a hornet’s nest on the email discussion group, BGRASS-L, igniting the tedious “is it bluegrass?” debate.

But “Whatcha Gonna Do” is in the introspective singer/songwriter mode of her early idols Joni Mitchell and James Taylor. In fact, there’s no bluegrass banjo until guitarist/banjo picker Jim Hurst picks up his five string on the ninth track, Monroe’s “My Florida Sunshine,” which Lynch first heard on an eight track tape in the 1970s. She gives it the Full Mon, right down to Jason Thomas’ twin fiddles.

A raging back and forth ensued, not all directed at Claire, but at BU for dedicating space to such an “obviously” non-bluegrass album. Claire was hesitant to respond, but shared a few thoughts about it all the same.

“First of all, I’m amazed that the people who were ‘raging,’ as you say, about it actually valued my music enough to even address it! I’m honored that they felt my artistic expression was worth their concern – even if it isn’t bluegrass enough for their taste.

When I entered bluegrass, I was young — 19 years old. I wasn’t aware I was entering into a fraternity which might somehow hold power over players to dictate their artistry. As time went on, I saw that many people celebrated the music and enjoyed not only the tradition but it’s inevitable evolution. I’ve tried to respect the points of view from those who feel they must defend bluegrass music in its original form – I’m glad it’s been preserved by those who are so capable of doing that. But it hasn’t stopped me from enjoying the music in all of its facets, the community as a whole, and my profession.

Taking offense can often tear folks and situations down, while acceptance and love always build up. I’m for the latter.

Am I important to bluegrass? I don’t know… I think I’m just another wanna be player who’s been encouraged by fans to keep it up instead of ‘give it up!’ “

Gracious to a fault. I count myself among the “please don’t give it up” contingent.

Whatcha Gonna Do should be available wherever you purchase bluegrass and acoustic music. Orders placed today (9/15) from Claire’s web site will be autographed before going out tomorrow.

First up is Carol Beaugard’s Lonesome Pine RFD which airs on WFDU in the New York City metro market. The show airs from 9:00 a.m until noon (EDT) and Carol will speak with both Tony Trischka and Claire Lynch about their plans for the rest of ‘09.

Tony will be on the line at 9:15 to talk about the Tony Trischka School of Banjo, a new online instructional site which will launch this summer. Carol also plans to ask him about his work on Steve Martin’s recent banjo CD, The Crow.

Then at 11:00, Claire Lynch will join Carol to break the news about a new Rounder project she expects to have this fall.

Catch Carol et al. on Lonesome Pine RFD at 89.1 FM in the NYC area, and streamed live online at WFDU.fm.

The show airs at 8:00 p.m. (EDT) on 89.9 and 109.9 FM, and via live online streaming at WERU.org.

Expect Darwin to spin tracks from Claire’s most recent CD release, Crowd Favorites, and talk about her plans for 2009 and beyond.

Donna has been working on Walk This Mountain Down for the past year, writing and recording the album with her producer Keith Sewell. She collaborated with fellow writers Rick Stanley, her husband, regular co-writer and cousin to Ralph, along with Marc Rossi, Dennis K. Duff and Richard Leigh, as well as writing two on her own. Once again there are many stories around the songs and, as always, there are a couple of gospel songs included.

Helping out in the recording studio were Keith Sewell, on acoustic guitar; Rob Ickes, on resonator guitar; Andy Leftwich, on mandolin and fiddle; Scott Vestal, on banjo; and Byron House, on upright bass, rightly described as the cream of the crop.

Several of Ulisse’s friends – Claire Lynch, Jerry Salley, Curtis Wright, Keith Sewell, Wendy Buckner Sewell and Rick Stanley – are featured singing harmony.

One of the tracks, the song Poor Mountain Boy, a Ulisse-Stanley composition, is included on the latest Prime Cuts of Bluegrass compilation CD, just released to bluegrass radio.

Walk This Mountain Down will be sent to radio stations in January of 2009 just prior to general release on February 10.

Donna and her band, lovingly dubbed The Poor Mountain Boys after the afore-mentioned song, but known individually as Robin Roller (banjo), Scott Neubert (resonator guitar, guitar and harmony vocals), Rick Stanley (guitar and vocal harmony), Bobby King (upright bass) and Matt Raum (mandolin), played an official showcase set at the recent IBMA WoB Convention.

For additional information about Donna Ulisse visit www.DonnaUlisse.com.

First up at 10:15 a.m., Jeanette Williams will join Carol Beaugard on WFDU to talk about her new CD, Thank You For Caring, and her participation in the third release from the Daughters Of Bluegrass, Bluegrass Bouquet, a celebration of female bluegrass artists and musicians. Music from these recordings will be featured as well.

Then at 11:00 a.m., Carol will welcome the ear-shattering instrumental duo Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile into the WFDU studio. The two have been out in support of their CD, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile, a CD/DVD combo project of mandolin/bass duets, ahead of their final show at Carnegie Hall next week.

Carol is a huge Thile fan so she’s sure to talk about his meteoric career at length, in addition to his current work with Meyer. Expect lots of music early in the show and in the 11:00 hour from the Meyer/Thile album, plus Nickel Creek, the Punch Brothers and Chris’ various solo CDs.

Her show, Lonesome Pine RFD, is broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to noon (EDT) on 89.1 FM in the NYC area, and streamed live online at WFDU.fm.

Also at 11:00 a.m., there will be live music over at WAMU’s Bluegrass Country.

Claire Lynch will be in the studio with host Lee Michael Demsey to spread the word about her show at The Birchmere Friday night. Guitarist Jim Hurst and bass player Mark Schatz will accompany Claire for an impromptu set in WAMU’s Studio 3. They will also talk about what The Claire Lynch Band is up to for the rest of 2008 and beyond, and whatever else Lee Michael might come up with.

You can catch their 24/7 online bluegrass feed at www.bluegrasscountry.org.

All in all, a good morning to tune in online.

She will be joining Carol Beaugard on Lonesome Pine RFD this morning (6/13) at 11:00 a.m. to talk about all things Claire.

The show airs on WFDU-FM 89.1 FM in the New York city metropolitan area, and over on the Internet via live streaming.

The premise of the contest was simple, but far from easy – tell your life story in only six words.

A winner has been chosen, Corrina Logston from Red Bud, IL, who impressed Claire with the way her entry could either be taken seriously, or tongue-in-cheek.

Action, adventure, romance – my Hollywood life.

Congratulations to Corrina, who is herself a talented young bluegrass musician.

Claire said that there were so many entries that caught her fancy that she found that she had to choose six honorable mentions as well.

Maintain yard. Never been to prison.
Jack Tolan, Rex, GA

An amateur ‘ologist of many subjects.
Jimmy Wells, Cullman, AL

Irish poet self-published with refrigerator magnets.
Shannon Sanford, Seymour, CT

In my life, I love dogs.
Hannah Menson, (age 9), Roswell, GA

Sunrise tea / sunset song / simple pleasures.
Ramona Ault, Vista, CA

Congrats to all the winners, and kudos to Claire for coming up with such creative promotions!

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.

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…

• Nine Pound Hammer – Tony Rice
• John Henry – Lilly Brothers & Don Stover
• Bringing Mary Home – Country Gentlemen
• Wabash Cannonball – Claire Lynch
• Whitehouse Blues – Del McCoury
• Footprints In The Snow – Mac Wiseman
• Atlanta Is Burning – Boys From Indiana
• Fireball Mail – Lonesome River Band
• Fox On The Run – Emerson & Waldron
• Poor Ellen Smith – Ted Lundy & the Southern Mountain Boys
• Love Of The Mountains – Lost & Found
• Darling Corey – Seldom Scene
• Little Glass Of Wine – Ralph Stanley
• Train 45 – J.D. Crowe
• Little Rosewood Casket – Don Reno & Red Smiley
• Pig In A Pen – Stanley Brothers
• Dream Of A Miner’s Child – Whitley & Skaggs
• Down In The Willow Garden – Dave Evans
• Roving Gambler – Larry Sparks
• Lonesome Road Blues – Larry Richardson & Happy Smith

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).

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.”

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.

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, B?©la 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.

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.

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¬Æ). 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.

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.

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.

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 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.