We’ve posted many times over the past two years about the Pickin’ On series from CMH Records. This impressive series (234 titles and counting) involves bluegrass instrumental tributes to successful pop, rock and country artists.

Many have featured some of bluegrass music’s most celebrated players, and introduced fiery bluegrass picking to new listeners based on their primary interest in the artists whose career is receiving the grassy tributes.

We hear from CMH that they are currently searching for new producers and bands for upcoming tribute projects. They ask that anyone interested in being a part of future tributes should contact either Jim Silvers or Greg Sanford at CMH.

Cornbread Red has a new CD of bluegrass tributes, this one for rock music legend Bob Seger. Runnin’ Against The Wind features their take on Seger classics like Night Moves, We’ve Got Tonight, Like A Rock and Against The Wind.

Cornbread Red likes to refer to themselves as “the Steely Dan of bluegrass,” a reference to the successful pop act whose two primary writers spend most of their time in the studio carefully crafting their music.

The band consists of Stan Dailey on bass and lead vocals, Mark Whitehead on mandolin and guitar, Mark Scott on banjo and Dennis Clifton on resonator guitar. They have recorded a number of similar projects for CMH records, including tributes to Aerosmith, Nickelback and Maroon 5.

You can hear audio samples from Runnin’ Against The Wind in iTunes.

When the roll is called of the all-time greatest fiddlers in bluegrass, the name of Benny Martin will always be included. He was a member of the Flatt & Scruggs show for several years in the early 1950s, and also worked briefly for Bill Monroe. He played on The Grand Ole Opry as a solo performer, and had stints with country artists Johnny and Jack, Roy Acuff and Kitty Wells.

He was a flamboyant performer, and a favorite with fans in the 50s and 60s for his singing and fiddling, plus his huge smile and larger-than-life persona on stage. Benny passed away in 2001, but had been in ill health since the mid-’80s, so a great many younger bluegrass fans and fiddlers have only a passing acquaintance with his brilliant playing.

Thanks to CMH Records, one of his classic recordings is set to be reissued on CD. The Fiddle Collection, originally released as a 2 LP set in 1977, is set to hit the street on October 9 in a special CD edition. The tracks from the original vinyl have been remastered, and a number of bonus tracks are included as well, all of which feature John Hartford on banjo.

Among the 28 tracks are such favorites as Lee Highway Blues, Fiddlers Dream, Back Up And Push and Ragtime Annie, as well as bluegrass numbers like Flint Hill Special, Footprints In The Snow and Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

To get a feel for just how influential Martin was on the next generation of fiddlers, we asked a few of the current nominees for the IBMA Fiddle Player Of The Year Award for comment.

First up is Mountain Heart’s Jim Van Cleve:

“Big Tige (Benny Martin) was the quintessential bluegrass fiddle player…Unbelievably rich tone, especially considering the recording technology of the time, an incredible awareness of the vocal and an inventiveness for where he needed be in context to it. It was so natural for him. Ultimately, he played a huge part in defining for a lot of players, myself included, what types of things were appropriate for the bluegrass fiddler. It’s not unlike what Tony Rice eventually did for bluegrass guitar. His signature fire and enthusiasm just underlined the fact that what he was playing and creating was perfect!”

Ron Stewart, fiddling with JD Crowe & The New South added these words: (more…)

Things have been jumping of late for Rebecca and John Frazier of Hit & Run. In addition to managing a busy touring schedule, the two were married last summer (August ‘06), and they moved to Nashville from Colorado this spring. Nashville is a powerful draw for folks serious about a career in the music business, and like so many before them, John and Rebecca felt that they were missing opportunities by being so far from the center of gravity.

One such opportunity arose almost immediately upon their arrival – a bluegrass tribute to the music of TV’s animated blockbuster, The Simpsons! It will be released this summer on CMH Records, to coincide with the theatrical release of The Simpsons full length feature film.

Rebecca said that taking this on as a Hit & Run project fell into place immediately, and was among the first things they tackled after getting settled in.

“CMH has been asking us to do a project since they first heard us in 2004, but we’ve always been too busy on the road to fit in a record for them. This spring we took some time off the road to get moved to Nashville, and we actually recorded it seven days after we got to town. Basically we drove a U-Haul to Nashville, unpacked boxes, and drove to Merlefest to play with Donna Hughes. Two days later we cut this record.

Since John and I had just moved and were unable to fly in the other band members, we asked our good friends from The Infamous Stringdusters to pitch in their efforts.

We were lucky enough to work with Rich Adler at Soundwave Studios. We had a blast with him! He has recorded everyone in bluegrass, it seems. He recorded Every Time You Say Goodbye (Alison Krauss), and Mark Twang (John Hartford). He also recorded Comes A Time, one of my favorite Neil Young records.”

The title of the CD is Four Finger Music – The Bluegrass Tribute to the Music Made Famous by The Simpsons. I don’t suppose you have to be a big Simpsons fan to get a kick out of this, but if you are one (like me), it seems destined to be a cult classic.

I asked Rebecca if they were fans of the show.

“Frazier is the real Simpsons fan of the group. He’s seen more episodes than I knew existed, and he quotes them freely and fondly. (more…)