The Dan Tyminski Band will be featured on CMT.com’s Unplugged at Studio 330, debuting on Tuesday May 20.

Dan and the boys will be performing material from his new CD, Wheels, due from Rounder on June 17.

There is a sneak peek video up now at CMT.com.

Mountain High Bluegrass Associates of Bellow Falls, VT has just published the 2008 Bluegrass Guide, featuring a cover story on native Vermonter, Dan Tyminski.

Dan talks about learning to play as a young boy, his early picking days with Green Mountain Bluegrass and his tremendous success in recent years.

The Bluegrass Guide is published each spring with festival listings and flyers, and a variety of profiles of bands, songwriters, engineers/producers and radio hosts.

It can be ordered online for $10 (plus $5 shipping).

Our friend David Conner shared this YouTube link with us. It features a number of videos shot during an appearance by The Dan Tyminski Band at The Birchmere on March 1 of this year.

Ten songs from the show are posted, including the title track from Dan’s upcoming Rounder CD, Wheels, several cuts from his previous solo release (Tiny Broken Heart, Stuck In The Middle Of Nowhere) and a few bluegrass classics (Rocky Road Blues, Man Of Constant Sorrow, Muleskinner Blues, Mary Ann).

The band includes Tyminski on guitar and vocals, Ron Stewart on banjo, Adam Steffey on mandolin, Barry bales on bass and Justin Moses on fiddle.

The video was shot with a hand held camera, so it’s a bit shaky at times, but the audio is terrific and they give a fine taste of how strong this band is in concert. This show in March took place one day after I saw the band perform in Roanoke (review here).

You can find all the videos on YouTube, and we’ve included the Wheels video for your enjoyment here.

When we spoke with Dan Tyminski back in February, he mentioned that he was hoping that his new CD, Wheels, would be released in May of this year. A few weeks back, Rounder indicated that it would be out on June 17, and their web site now shows a release date of June 24.

I had a chance to listen to the CD over the weekend, and expect that pretty much everyone who is anticipating this new recording will find something right up their alley when they pop it in the player. There is some in-your-face bluegrass, a number of AKUS-esque ballads, a couple of patented Tyminski bluesy/pentatonic songs and one kickin’ instrumental.

A few will be familiar to bluegrass fans: Kitty Wells’ Whose Shoulder Will You Cry On, Del McCoury’s Who Showed Who and Ron Block’s It All Comes Down To You. A number of new songs come from within the band: Adam Steffey’s fiery Knock Knock! and Ron Stewart’s clever brush-off, I Ain’t Taking You Back No More.

How Many Times is a great new bluegrass song that Dan wrote, with a feel similar to the Osborne Brothers (and BAB) classic, One Tear. The title track is a contemporary bluegrass song from Patrick McDougal, sounding quite a bit like ones Dan has cut with AKUS, and Heads You Win Tails I Lose (Craig Market/Darren Shoemaker) hearkens back to some of his bluesy tracks during his time with Lonesome River Band.

The audio quality is first rate, and the vocals are superb throughout. Dan handles all the leads and much of the harmony, with guest vocalists Vince Gill, Ron Block and the White sisters joining in.

The picking is dynamite as well. Ron Stewart has few peers in the bluegrass world, and is in fine form here. Adam Steffey is likewise among the most celebrated mandolinists in this music, proving it once again on this CD. Fiddle and resonator guitar man Justin Moses may not yet be a household name in bluegrass circles, but that is soon to change, based on his playing here and what he does with the band on stage.

In one of the most glaring oversights in the history of the IBMA Awards, monster bass player Barry Bales has never been pegged for an award, and as expected, his playing on Wheels is wonderfully tasteful - creative yet always appropriate. For me, at least two tracks on the CD owe much of their interest to his talent for implying a different chord in the bass from what the rest of the rhythm section is playing.

Dan may not be known primarily as a guitarist, but his rhythm here is always strong, and he handles both the grass and the crosspicked rhythm with ease.

There are no audio samples up yet on the Rounder site, but you can see the complete track listing. Let’s hope this project isn’t delayed any further!

Brance and I had the opportunity to see The Dan Tyminski Band in concert on Friday (2/29) at The Jefferson Center here in Roanoke, VA. We had been looking forward to seeing them perform since the formation of the band was announced during the 2007 IBMA World Of Bluegrass convention, and The Jefferson’s Shaftman Hall was a near-perfect setting.

The band is composed of Barry Bales on bass, Justin Moses on fiddle/dobro, Adam Steffey on mandolin, and Ron Stewart on banjo with Tyminski on guitar and lead vocals. I had spoken with Dan earlier that day, and had several prior conversations with Ron and Adam about the new band. That, together with my keen awareness of each member’s musicianship, left me with some fairly high expectations going into the show.

They emerged from stage right with no introduction, and launched into a blistering, nearly-two hour set of traditional bluegrass music with the characteristic front-of-the-beat drive that distinguishes the finest practitioners of the art. It was a powerful ensemble sound, with vocals to match.

The material was chosen from Dan’s 2000 release, Carry Me Across The Mountains, the band’s upcoming Wheels CD, plus numbers Dan (and Adam) had recorded with Alison Krauss & Union Station. Throw in some bluegrass classics and you had a full concert of expertly performed, passionately delivered music.

Tyminski’s voice has been a familiar one in bluegrass since his emergence with Lonesome River Band in the late 1980s, and he gave an impressive performance Friday night. He offered versions of One Tear and Free Born Man on top of cuts from his CD like Carry Me Across The Mountain, Stuck In The Middle Of Nowhere, Think About You Every Day and Tiny Broken Heart.

Of course they also performed Man Of Constant Sorrow, the most recent bluegrass song to hit pop and country radio with a vengeance, for which Dan provided the voice over in the O Brother, Where Art Thou movie. If you have caught Dan doing this one with AKUS, you’ll have heard his amusing tale about breaking the news about scoring the movie gig to his wife, but it is a funny one even on subsequent rehearings. (more…)

Here are a bunch of photos I took at the Dan Tyminski Band concert on Friday night. The band was great, on stage and off. They did a fine show, and took plenty of time to visit with fans afterwards.

The Dan Tyminski Band performed in Roanoke this past Friday night, and we had a chance to sit down with Dan before the show to talk a bit about this latest chapter in his storied musical career. We also talked about Dan’s early days in bluegrass, and how it first caught his attention.

Before we could get to any of that, Dan held forth as a proud papa, sharing stories about his three children and their exploits in the realm of sports. After a bit of discussion about the looming baseball season and a bit of golf, he was ready to talk music.

Dan recalled that the Roanoke area was where he first starting playing bluegrass professionally when he joined The Lonesome River Band in the late 1980s.

“Tim Austin [Lonesome River Band founder and current Tyminski Band road manager/audio engineer] told me that I couldn’t live in Vermont and play with the band, and that I would have to get another job in order to pull it off. I really wanted to play with a southern bluegrass band, and moved to Virginia from Vermont with only 4 gigs and no solid prospects of more than $1800/year.”

He joined LRB as a banjo player, but Austin brought him on primarily for his strong tenor voice. When their then current mandolinist Adam Steffey left the group, Tim prevailed upon Dan to switch to mandolin. His first recording with the band was their 1989 release, Looking For Yourself.

“Mandolin was my first instrument, but I fell in love with banjo when my older brother came back home one day with a JD Crowe album. Once I heard Crowe, I had to learn banjo.

Singing was something I had done since I was a boy. I still remember my first stage performance. It was at the You & I festival in Granville, NY. I pulled on Smokey Greene’s pants leg and asked if I could sing a song. That was as scared as I had ever been in my young life, but I sang John Denver’s Please Daddy Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas. Of course, any kid that sings on stage gets a big response, but I loved getting that reaction from the crowd.”

A few years after Dan’s first LRB release, the band went through some major personnel changes, bringing banjo picker Sammy Shelor and vocalist/guitarist/bass player Ronnie Bowman into the group. Their 1991 CD, Carrying The Tradition, brought Lonesome River Band to a much wider audience, and elevated Ronnie and Dan as prominent voices in bluegrass. (more…)

The Dan Tyminski Band will appear on Saturday night’s (2/23) edition of The Grand Ole Opry.

This widely-heralded new group, whose debut release is expected on Rounder this spring, is headed by former Alison Krauss & Union Station and Lonesome River band stalwart Tyminski on guitar and lead vocals, along with Barry Bales on bass, Adam Steffey on mandolin, Justin Moses on fiddle and Ron Stewart on banjo.

It has been suggested that this bunch might be described as The Bluegrass Album Band of their generation, and that may well be true. With the exception of Moses, whose relative unknown status is about to be shattered by his association with this group, all the members hold the rank of player’s player on their respective instruments, and Dan’s is among the most recognizable male voices in and around bluegrass.

Brance and I expect to see them live here in Roanoke next week, and will post with our impressions after that show.

Look for Dan & Co. during the 7:30-8:00 and 10:30-11:00 p.m. Opry segments on Saturday. The show is available over the air in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

Should you miss it live, highlights from the show will be available in the WSM audio archives next week.

The Dan Tyminski Band performed their debut show this past week, offering two sets at Nashville’s Station Inn on Wednesday evening.

Our friend, old time banjo picker Tina Trianosky, was at the show and sent us some impressions - and found us some photos taken from the crowd.

The show was one of the best bluegrass shows I’ve ever seen. The combination of musicians Dan has put together is unbelievable. They played a combination of original and traditional songs; including some of the classics from Dan’s time with the Lonesome River Band, songs from Dan’s solo CD and songs from AKUS.

The sold out Station Inn crowd particularly liked Mary Ann, One Tear, No Place to Hide, and Del McCoury’s Who Showed Who. One of the biggest highlights came when Ronnie Bowman joined the DTB for two songs, Money in the Bank and Long Gone. Ron Stewart played an smoking version of Pike County Breakdown.

I can’t begin to express how good it was. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Dan did a wonderful job of incorporating new material from their upcoming CD as well as crowd favorites. I can’t wait for the next show!

Here are a couple more photos from the show, taken by NC banjo picker Eric Hardin - who apologized for the quality.

      

The Dan Tyminski Band is still hard at work in the studio, trying to complete the recording of their debut CD before they begin touring in January ‘08. At this point, Rounder is looking for an early spring release for this highly anticipated, as yet unnamed project.

Mandolinist Adam Steffey says that the band has gelled quickly, and is getting a great sound in the studio.

“The recording is going well and we’re all very pleased with what we’ve got down so far. We are cutting at Omni Studios in Nashville and are trying to finish the project up and get it ready to mix and master by the end of the year. It’s mostly new songs written by folks within the band, with two new tunes co-written by Craig Market and Darren Shoemaker, a Patrick McDougal tune, a Ron Block original, and a tune from Jeff White.

We’re all happy with the way it’s shaping up and can’t wait to get it finished up and out to all the folks.”

Here are a few photos from the first tracking sessions.

Their first show will be at Nashville’s Station Inn on January 2, followed by a quick west coast trip to San Francisco and Portland. Touring begins for them in earnest by mid-February, and you can find the shows as they are updated on Dan’s MySpace page.

We caught up with Adam Steffey on Friday, and he shared some details on the upcoming - and highly-anticipated - debut recording from The Dan Tyminski Band.

Adam told us that they would be getting together in Nashville on November 18 to take publicity photos and perhaps rehearse a bit, and then spend the next three days heading into Thanksgiving recording with a vengeance. The completed master is expected to be delivered to Rounder early in ‘08, and the label is apparently intending to rush it into production before spring.

The new band will feature Tyminski on guitar, Steffey on mandolin, Barry Bales on bass, Ron Stewart on banjo and Justin Moses on fiddle.

Adam mentioned that several tracks for a future Dan Tyminski solo project were recorded at the same time as the sessions for Ron Block’s Doorway CD, with Tyminski, Steffey and Bales along with Block on banjo. He wasn’t sure if those tracks might end up on the new project, perhaps with Stewart and Moses re-cutting tracks, or whether those songs might be re-cut from scratch.

The band is accepting dates for ‘08 and beyond, and the current schedule can be found on the Keith Case web site.

We posted last week from IBMA about the imminent debut of The Dan Tyminski Band in 2008. The band will feature Dan on guitar and vocals, along with Adam Steffey on mandolin, Barry Bales on bass, Justin Moses on fiddle and Ron Stewart on banjo.

I spoke with Ron earlier this week, and he expressed his excitement about this new chapter in his career, and the difficulty - and surprising success - of keeping this quiet for the past few months.

Ron said that they would be heading into the studio the second week of November to start work on a CD, which is expected to be released early in 2008. The sound is “in your face grass,” with some lighter, ballad-like material as well for contrast.

The Dan Tyminski Band will be booked by Keith Case & Associates and managed by DS Management. Tour dates for 2008 are starting to come in, and a busy schedule for next year is anticipated.

Ron also asked if we would publish an open letter to the bluegrass community, which he wrote to combat a number of unfounded rumors which have begun circulating about his departure from JD Crowe & The New South. It is a heartfelt tribute to one of the giants in our world, and goes a long way towards explaining why Ron is one of the most widely admired and respected people in bluegrass music.

Many, if not all of you have heard that I am leaving JD Crowe and The New South at the first of the year, and will be a full time member of The Dan Tyminski Band. After spending just one day at IBMA last week, rumors had already started to surface pertaining to the reasons I am leaving JD, none of which I heard were true. I am not sure why some folks have a need to make up their own versions for such happenings, about which these folks know nothing - but such is the case in our very “close knit” business.

So I will explain to the best of my ability what you, the people and fans, need to know about this situation. The main reason I am doing so is my respect for JD, who I am proud to call my friend, in and out of the music business.

I started to work with JD early in 2002 on a fill-in basis, doing every show that I could possibly make while working with Lynn Morris, and from the first note we ever played together, we connected musically. That same year, Lynn tragically suffered a stroke due to a surgery, and couldn’t finish the year herself. I went on to play the rest of the year with Marshall Wilborn, Jesse Brock, and Lloyd Douglas to finish dates that we were obligated to do, and didn’t join the New South until those dates were played.

I have never been a “jump and run” kind of guy, leaping at the first offer that came my way - and I’m no different now. JD gained my respect by not trying to get me to join his band while I was working with Lynn, and I hold the highest respect for him in that regard. Not many in our business are that respectful - and there are quite a few, with whom everyone out there would be familiar, who are not. (more…)

Another piece of news we picked up here at IBMA is the imminent launch of Dan Tyminski’s band.

All of the Union Station guys have been looking at a blank schedule for 2008, with Alison Krauss planning to take the year off from band work, and it seems to have been the opportune moment for Dan to move forward with his own band. They played a showcase here earlier in the week and created quite a stir.

The band will be Ron Stewart on banjo, Justin Moses on fiddle, Barry Bales on bass, Adam Steffey on mandolin and Dan on guitar. They are headed into the studio almost immediately after IBMA, with a release on Rounder Records expected very early in 2008.

Adam will continue doing shows with Mountain Heart at least through the end of this year.

UPDATE 10:15 a.m.: Thanks to Barry Bales for catching my earlier error - Ron Stewart is on banjo and Justin Moses on fiddle. That’s my lesson not to post anything after 1:00 a.m. at IBMA with precious little sleep!

John posted Saturday with his review of the Tony Rice/AKUS concert we attended Friday evening. Here are my thoughts on the concert after a weekend of reflection on the show.

As John said in his post, we missed the first couple of tunes, but I did hear part of Early Morning Rain from the lobby. That is one of my favorite Lightfoot tunes that Tony ever recorded, I’m sorry I missed it. But there were plenty more where that one came from. I especially enjoyed Alison’s rendition of Song For A Winter’s Night.

The band sounded great on this material and Tony blended right into the band, not taking center stage until they gave it to him. Even the traditional bluegrass numbers they did from the Album Band repertoire where performed true to the way Rice recorded them, with no guitar solo. Let me tell you, there was no need. Tony’s rhythm was spectacular! I’ve always been a fan of his rhythm playing and he was in fine form Friday evening. Driving, tasteful, spicy, and grin inspiring, not to mention spot on timing, Tony’s rhythm was one of the highlights of the concert for me.

One thing that struck me was the obvious mutual respect on the stage. AKUS was very respectful of Tony, honoring him as a hero. But you tell he reciprocated that respect. Rice heaped praise on both Alison and Tyminski as being two of his favorite singers. Introducing one song, Tony made a comment to that effect and Jerry Douglas said “Thanks Tony” to much laughter from the audience. But seeing Douglas and Rice play together reminded you that these two have recorded and played together a lot down through the years. They have that synergy you sometimes see where it appears they are feeding off each other’s creativity and doing more together than they would either do alone.

The show included the funny stage banter we’ve come to expect from Alison. While introducing the band members, she referred to banjoist Ron Block as the bands “sexy librarian.” She also told a very funny story about a country fan who had a crush on Barry Bales at a show…and thought he was playing the cello!

During the final performance (they did come back for an encore) of Freeborn Man, they projected a slideshow of photos on the screen behind the band. The photos were mostly of Tony, though there were a few of Alison as well, with different bands and musicians he’s recorded and performed with over the years. It was a nice touch to add to what could be considered Tony’s signature song.

Overall, the show was entertaining and the music was excellent. I can’t wait for the recording of this tour to be released. It’s bound to be a classic instantly. I got the feeling toward the end of the show that this was one of those moments my children and grandchildren are likely to ask me about.

No, Clapton is not making a bluegrass record. He is hosting his second Crossroads Guitar Festival. The last one was held three years ago in 2004, and later released on DVD. Now an encore performance is scheduled for July 28, 2007 at Toyota Park in Chicago, IL.

Last time around, in 2004, Jerry Douglas and Dan Tyminski were both on the bill individually. This year’s festival attendees will see the entire AKUS band on stage according to the venue’s website.

Vince Gill has also been confirmed as a performer for this year’s festival.

The Crossroads Guitar Festival website has not yet been updated with info on this year’s festival.

Ticket’s go on sale today, March 31, at 10 AM via TicketMaster.com and will cost $90 each.

Knoxville, TN radio station WDVX plays a blend of music styles that cover the gamut of acoustic styles including bluegrass, gospel, and americana. The station provides an online media player as well as support for Windows Media 96K, and a 128K iTunes feed.

Supported entirely by listener donations, benefit concerts, and local business underwriting, the station is not affiliated with any college, university, religious or political organization. In a new effort at fundraising, the station is auctioning off three great instruments that have been autographed by a number of prominent artists.

The instruments are being auctioned on ebay through the Giving Works program designed for non-profits. All proceeds from the auctions go directly to support the station and it’s programing.

The first instrument on the auction block is an autographed Martin DXM Dreadnought guitar. The instrument has been autographed by Robert Earl Keen, Tim O’Brien, Del McCoury, John Hiatt, Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski, Jerry Douglas, Jason Carter, Ron Block, Mike Bub and more.

The bidding began this past Friday, February 2nd, and will continue through the auction’s closing date of Sunday February 11th, at 6PM EST.

The instrument comes complete with a hard shell case. The Martin DXM is a mahogany guitar with a modified low oval neck profile, 1 11/16″ nut, 25.4″ scale length, 2 1/8″ bridge string spacing, and Martin’s pattern HPL textured finish.

More photos of the instrument are available on the ebay auction page.

The December issue of Golf Digest contains a list of the Top 100 Musicians. Our very own Dan Tyminski has been ranked #11 on the list in a three way tie with Lloyd Cole and Alice Cooper.

Golf Digest ranks the musicians based on the U.S. Golf Association’s Golf Handicap and Information Network along with state associations and numbers provided by publicists, friends, and playing partners.

With a maximum recommended handicap of 36.4 (for men), Dan’s is a very respectable 5.3. Other musicians we’ll claim who also made list are Vince Gill at #2 with a 0 handicap, Joe Diffie ranked at #32, and Charlie Daniels came in at #91. These are the ones on the list that I’m willing to claim anyway. Check the list out for yourself here.

Over the weekend I came across a post on Ron Block’s website stating that overdubs are almost complete on what appears to be a new solo project from Ron.

Overdubs continue in my basement studio. I’m looking to finish all my parts (acoustic and electric guitars, vocals, editing) by the time AKUS goes on the road for the first half of November. In late November I’ll finish up with fiddle and viola (Alison), lap steel/dobro (Jerry Douglas), some mandolin overdubs by Adam Steffey that we weren’t able to get to in August, and harmony vocals by various folks. I’ll also be doing preliminary mixing (mostly just volume rides). I’m looking to have Gary Paczosa mix by the end of December and have the record released by mid to late April.

Some of the people involved in making the recording:

• Barry Bales (bass), Dan Tyminski (guitar, vocals)
• Eric Uglum (production assistance)
• Jerry Douglas (dobro, lap steel)
• Viktor Krauss (bass)
• Gary Paczosa (engineer)
• Adam Steffey (mandolin, mandola)

With a line up like that it should be a recording worth listening to. We’ll keep you informed as we find out more.

The third video from Alison Krauss & Union Station’s Lonely Runs Both Ways CD is set to be released this week on CMT’s Top Twenty Countdown show. This new video is for If I Didn’t Know Any Better, and the band is proud to have worked with noted video director Wayne Isham this time out. Isham has directed numerous award winning videos, earning the distinction of being voted All Time Video Director at the MTV Awards several years back. He has worked many times with pop acts like Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, 98 Degrees, Metallica and The Rolling Stones in a career that may soon include 200 video director credits.

The new AKUS video will debut on Thursday (5/11) on Top Twenty Countdown where Alison and Dan Tyminski will introduce the new release, along with host Lance Smith. Times for the show this week are posted below.

The video is set to debut on GAC during the 3rd week of May.