Volumes 7 and 8 of the fantastic series of DVDs of the Flatt & Scruggs TV Shows from the 1950s and 1960s will be released by Shanachie Records on February 24.

One of these sets features the earliest surviving show, from 1956 (the band began doing these shows in 1955). Curly Seckler is featured on tenor vocals and mandolin on both volumes and on one of them he sings one of his trademark solos, What’s the Matter Now.

Other members of the Foggy Mountain Boys at about that same time were Buck Graves, Paul Warren and Jake Tullock.

Flatt and Scruggs are one of the most popular bluegrass bands of all time. Along with Bill Monroe, they developed bluegrass music into a widely successful and artistically praised musical format. The Best of the Flatt and Scruggs TV Show series contains the best musical performances from a long lost TV show taped in the 1950s and 1960s.

Never available before, this footage in this series features Flatt and Scruggs in their prime with their group the Foggy Mountain Boys playing many of their most famous songs as well as many other bluegrass classics. The first two DVDs in the series were released in March 2007.

These two DVDs will be available wherever music DVDs are sold, from Curly Seckler at his show dates and from his web site. Each volume contains two shows.

Fans of bluegrass veteran Curly Seckler will be able to enjoy two radio programs in which he is featured during the holiday period.

On Friday, December 26 Seckler discusses his career with host Frank Stasio on North Carolina Public Radio’s The State of Things. During the hour long program, he will perform several songs backed by semi-regular support band the Steep Canyon Rangers. The State of Things starts at noon (EST) and can be found at 91.5 FM (WUNC, Chapel Hill), 88.9 FM (WUND, Manteo) and 90.9 FM (WRQM, Rocky Mount) on the dial. If you are out of range of these stations, you may listen by visiting the WUNC website.

The show also maintains an audio archive, so you might be able to find Curly’s visit there after the fact.

The following day, December 27, also at noon there will a repeat of the October 25th programme on WSVS in Crewe, VA, that featured Seckler, Jody Rainwater and the Steep Canyon Rangers live in WSVS’s Flatt & Scruggs studio. The two-hour show features chat with Seckler and Rainwater, both recalling some favorite memories from their long careers in bluegrass music, and some live music. You can tune into the two-hour program at 800 AM in central Virginia, or listen on the Internet.

Of course, on Christmas Day Seckler will celebrate another birthday, his 89th in this case.

He and his wife, Eloise, will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary the following day.

Happy holidays indeed!

On Sunday, November 2, 2008, the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky, unveiled a brand new Curly Seckler exhibit.

The exhibit, which will remain up for one year, includes photos, posters and LPs from Seckler’s 70 plus years in bluegrass music, as well as a guitar case, stage clothes and a hat.

After the unveiling ceremony, Seckler, accompanied by his friends Willis Spears and Larry Perkins, sang for the museum board members, trustees and other VIPs, Other featured performers included Dewey Murphy, Gloria Belle, Fletcher Bright and Ronnie Reno.

Prior to that, on October 8, Seckler went along to the WSM radio studio where he was a live guest of Eddie Stubbs during the latter’s evening show.

Two days later he joined with the Steep Canyon Rangers for a show at the Station Inn in Nashville.

On October 24, Curly was in Durham, North Carolina, to tape The State of Things for WUNC radio. He chatted with host Frank Stasio about his career and performed several songs backed by the Steep Canyon Rangers.

The State of Things is broadcast on weekdays from 12:00 noon to 1:00pm Eastern time on WUNC. The program featuring Curly Seckler is tentatively scheduled to be transmitted in December. Watch for details soon or check the WUNC web site.

During the following day Seckler visited Crewe, Virginia, for a live interview and performance on WSVS radio. This station was the home base for Curly Seckler in 1954, while he was with Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs. In addition to doing daily programs on WSVS and weekly appearances on WRVA’s Old Dominion Barn Dance in Richmond, Virginia, the Foggy Mountain Boys taped all of their Martha White radio programs at WSVS and sent them back to WSM to be broadcast. At that time, WSVS radio’s most popular DJ was Little Jody Rainwater, who had worked with Seckler in the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1950. Rainwater joined Seckler for the interview, thus the duo were reunited in the WSVS studios for the first time in 54 years. (WSVS programs bluegrass and classic country music, and you can tune in online.)

That evening (10/25) Seckler, showing the stamina of someone half his age, and the Steep Canyon Rangers gave a fantastic performance to an enthusiastic audience at the Kenbridge Town Hall, in Kenbridge, Virginia. WSVS station manager Chris Gowin co-ordinated the events as well as attending to the sound system. A portion of the proceeds of the show went to benefit a local chapter of the Salvation Army.

Curly Seckler is now looking forward to his next big event in his life: his 89th birthday, on December 25! He and his wife, Eloise, will also celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary on December 26.

It is expected that Seckler will do more shows with the Steep Canyon Rangers in 2009, while he will also perform at several bluegrass festivals with Big Country Bluegrass next year.

For additional information, bio, and photos, please you can visit Curly’s official web site.

More big bluegrass doin’s on online radio this Saturday (10/25).

At 1:00 p.m. (EDT) former Foggy Mountain Boys Jody Rainwater and Curly Seckler will join Steep Canyon Rangers for a live set on WSVS AM 800 in Crewe, VA. They will be performing together that evening in nearby Kenbridge, and will offer a taste of the show over the air (steamed live at www.wsvsam.com).

WSVS was the radio home for Flatt & Scruggs in 1954 and ‘55, where they did a live noontime show each weekday and also taped their Martha White shows for WSM in Nashville. Rainwater, who had left the band several years earlier, was a show host on WSVS while Lester and Earl were based in Crewe.

Curly and Jody look forward to spinning yarns about the old days on Saturday’s show, and getting a chance to perform together again backed by a fine young band who learned to play listening to the recordings they had made.

Then at 8:00 p.m. on WNCW in Spindale, NC, Merlefest will announce their artist lineup for 2009. [See update below]

John Adair from Merlefest and Christie Hutchens from Wilkes Community College will be on WNCW’s Martin Anderson to run down all the acts who will be on tap for the festival April 23-26, 2009.

Listen live online at wncw.org.

The lineup will be posted on the Melefest site after the show has concluded on Saturday at 9:00 p.m.

Update 10/26:  Ooops….. The Merlefest radio show is on Tuesday, October 28 at 8:00 p.m.