You’ll have a chance to hear them this weekend though, live on The Wheeling Jamboree Saturday night (10/17). The long-running show airs from Wheeling, WV on Saturday nights and can be heard – and seen – online.

Darrell is a West Virginia boy, and is understandably stoked about getting to play the show.

“I’m very excited about playing the Jamboree this weekend. This is our first time performing here, and I know that a lot of big country music legends have played on this stage.”

The broadcast starts at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday night (EDT), but the featured artists generally don’t go on until 8:00 p.m. It can be heard on a number of radio affiliates in West Virginia and the Ohio Valley, via live audio streaming, and even with a live video stream.

The Darrell Web Band features Matt Leadbetter on resonator guitar, Owen Piatt on banjo, Asa Gravely on guitar and Webb on mandolin and lead vocals.

I spoke to Darrell this afternoon from the hospital, and he was understandably excited. I didn’t get any of the vital stats (weight, length, etc) but he did mention that she is named after his Grandmother, who was known as Mary Belle.

Mom and baby are both doing fine. Congratulations to all the Webbs – Darrell, Amanda, Marabelle and big sister Norah!

Darrell said that he will barely have time to savor the moment, as he is filling in on mandolin with Audie Blaylock & Redline this weekend, and has a full week booked at IBMA subbing with Audie, Alecia Nugent and doing shows with Mashville Brigade.

He also mentioned that he has more than half of the tracks finished for his next CD with The Darrell Webb Band. He has Asa Gravely on guitar, Owen Piatt on banjo, Jeremy Arrowood on bass, Matt Leadbetter on resophonic guitar, and Darrel on mandolin.

They are represented by the Church Agency, run by DC-area banjo picker Kevin Church.

Matt Leadbetter will be on resonator guitar, Owen Piatt on banjo and Jeremy Aarwood on bass. Darrell tells us that he will either play mandolin or guitar himself, depending on who he chooses to complete the group.

He tells us that after stints with Lonesome River Band, JD Crowe & The New South, Wildfire, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and Flamekeeper, the time is right for him to lead his own band.

“I’m going to do my own thing from here on out. I’ve waited long enough, and I’m really going to work hard and do my best to try make it happen on my own.

You don’t ever know until you try.”

Flamekeeper has not yet chosen a replacement for Darrell, and has Jeff White playing guitar on an interim basis until a new hire comes on board. Webb leaves with nothing but respect for Michael and all the guys in Flamekeeper.

“I wish the band the best of luck but right now I have a lot of goals I want to accomplish. My fans can look forward to seeing The Darrell Webb Band out and about soon. I am excited about the new things that are in store for me right now.”

Darrell’s web site is being updated now, and new information should be available there in a few weeks. In the meantime, he is eager to communicate with anyone about his new endeavor, and can be reached by email at mandocaster2005@hotmail.com.

His energies right now are dedicated to his first effort at festival promotion with Coalfest 2009 (July 17-19) in Pilgrims Knob, VA, where he serves as co-director.

Their publicist, Kimberly Williams, was on hand and got a couple of photos of the band, as well as a bit of backstage video. She tells us that the guys whipped the crowd up with their versions of Goodbye Ole Pal and The Old Brown County Barn.

They also had a chance to snap a picture with Opry announcer and bluegrass legend Eddie Stubbs backstage during their post-Christmas Opry visit.

Current band members include Michael Cleveland on fiddle, Jesse Brock on mandolin, Jessie Baker on banjo, Marshall Wilborn on bass and Darrell Webb on guitar.

Here’s Flamekeeper backstage warming up…

Darrell has spent many years touring with top level bluegrass bands, including stints with Lonesome River Band, J.D. Crowe & The New South and Wildfire before taking Josh Williams’ place with Rhonda in October of 2007.

He will start with Flamekeeper on December 26 for a show on The Grand Ole Opry, joining founding members Michael Cleveland on fiddle and Jesse Brock on mandolin, with Marshall Wilborn on bass, and second-newest member Jessie Baker on banjo. Jessie joined the band at the end of September, an experienced pro himself while still in his teens.

You can check the Flamekeeper tour schedule online to look for a chance to catch their new lineup when they perform near you.

UPDATE 5:45 p.m.  We just got a note from Darrell about his move to Flamekeeper…

“I am really excited about this new gig with Michael. I have picked and jammed with Mike for years and I never dreamed I’d ever get to be in a band with him. He is one the most incredible musicians that I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing music with, a true professional and one of the nicest people I’ve ever been around.

When I heard that he was looking for someone I called him immediately, because I knew he played the same kind of music that I think just suits me to a tee. I knew had to do something real quick because I have a family home to support.

I am so looking forward to a great new beginning as a member of the Flamekeeper band. It consists of some of my favorite musicians and singers that I have ever heard. I am also a big fan of Jessie Brock, Marshall Wilborn, Mike Cleveland, and Jessie Baker.

I know it’s gonna be a blast getting to pick with all the guys in the band.”

The following statement was released by Upper Management last night (11/5):

Kenny and Kaye have been loyal supporters of Rhonda Vincent for the past 7 years, and will be sorely missed by all of us. A consumate professional, and a legend in the bluegrass world.

Darrell Webb for the past year has been a great person to travel with and has performed admirably. I couldn’t ask for anything more than what these 2 gentlemen have brought to our organization and family of friends.

We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors. Replacements will be announced at a later date. We ask you for your continued support for the band, Rhonda, and these 2 fine gentlemen.

The Brigade is today’s modern version of the Sidemen. Started a year or so ago as a fun midweek gig at The Station Inn in Nashville, The Mashville Brigade releases it’s first CD on April 22, 2008. The CD is produced by the band’s own Jim VanCleve, and contains 16 tracks, all of them standard bluegrass hits. Bearing the title Bluegrass Smash Hits, Volume 1, this disc is the first in a new series of releases planned by Rural Rhythm Records.

Ashby Frank commented on the genesis of the group.

I’ve gotten to pick with these guys at various festivals and in the halls and rooms of events like IBMA, SPBMGA, and the Galax Fiddlers Convention for years. Since we both grew up in North Carolina, I’ve known Jim for the longest, actually before I even really got into Bluegrass. The first time I ever played on a Bluegrass Festival stage was with Jim in Denton, NC. I think we put together a band with my sister and opened up the festival on a Tuesday or Wednesday night.

Randy, Darrell, Jim, Aaron and myself have performed with each other as a part of quite a few different collaborations, through fill-in work or special events like the MACC Festival in Columbus, OH. Once all of us had moved to Nashville, we talked about getting something together to play around town and maybe a festival or two. It took us a few years to get together, but it’s finally worked out, and it’s a whole lot of fun.

The band started basically as a new version of the Sidemen, the infamous group that used to perform every Tuesday night at the Station Inn. The Mashville Brigade started filling that same time slot and as Jim VanCleve tells it, one thing just led to another.

The Mashville Brigade has really grown into something much larger than we ever could have anticipated from when we first began playing at the Station Inn a little over a year ago. It all basically started as an outlet for us to have some fun while playing the music we all grew up on. But since the bluegrass culture around Nashville is really a pretty tight-knit bunch of friends, we suddenly had a good sized audience each Tuesday night, full of friends and family, in a room that is known for bringing out the best in people. This comfortable atmosphere really allowed the music to grow and take on it’s own unique personality. It was really starting to blow up, and the crowds just kept getting better each week. So, after some time, we started thinking, “this band really needs to record something”! Now, after listening back to the masters of the Mashville Brigade’s first album, I can honestly say that we are all very happy with what we were able to do!

The CD was recorded in a rather unique manner for the age we live in. The guys met at the Station Inn, their primary creative outlet, during the daylight hours and tracked the entire thing in under 8 hours with no overdubs.

We recorded this album with kind of a “throw back” philosophy in mind. We set everything up on the stage of the Station Inn, gathered in circle around the microphones, and just played! So, if somebody missed something, we had to start the whole song over. Plus, we recorded the entire album in the span of about eight hours one day in January. We didn’t have a crowd in there, as we were recording during the daylight hours. But, it was really interesting to record like that. There was an added element of pressure to get it right the first time, and that was actually a lot of fun, I thought! As we were recording, you couldn’t help but think of how Lester and Earl and Bill must have felt in their classic sessions so many years ago!

Normally CDs are only recorded outside the studio if it’s to be a live performance in front of an audience, but Ashby says they chose the Station Inn for several reasons.

Like Jim said, our philosophy was really an old school mindset. We all gathered round in a circle on stage at the Inn. That place is really a second home to all of us. We’ve been playing there most Tuesday nights for a year and we wanted to record there to capture the vibe, energy, and looseness that we’re used to having at those shows.

The CD opens with My Home’s Across The Bluegrass Mountains and the hits keep coming. For fans of traditional bluegrass, this will be a must have recording. The guys do it up right. The playing is immaculate, perfectly timed, tasteful, traditional and yet innovative. These guys may be young, but it’s clear they understand what hard driving traditional bluegrass is all about. Tunes like White House Blues will make you want to play along, if you can keep up! The four instrumental tracks are some of my favorite cuts on the disc, but all the tunes are bluegrass SMASH hits performed by a group of young pickers who’ll make you feel good about the future of traditional bluegrass music.

Here’s the track listing:

• My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains
• Banks of the Ohio
• White House Blues
• John Henry (instrumental)
• Take This Hammer
• Sitting on the Top of the World
• Two Dollar Bill
• Bury Me Beneath the Willow
• Little Maggie
• Going Across the Sea (instrumental)
• I’ll Remember You Love In My Prayers
• Lonesome Road Blues
• Ain’t Nobody Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone
• Salt Creek (instrumental)
• Roving Gambler
• Sally Goodin’ (instrumental)

I don’t think I could say it any better than Ashby did in his last comment to me.

This record is definitely a traditional Bluegrass record with very traditional songs, but there’s a good bit of contemporary feel that goes along with us being younger players. We always try to have as much fun as possible, and make our shows as high energy as possible. We want people to have a good time and come back and see us whenever they can. Hopefully this recording gives listeners that feeling, and lets them feel like they’re hanging out in Downtown Nashville enjoying a good night of hardcore Bluegrass.

It did for me.

If you need a fix of hardcore, traditional bluegrass music with a throbbing pulse and insistent drive, you’ll want to pick this CD up as soon as you can.

Audio clips are available on the group’s Myspace page.

Rhonda and the band will join Darrell on stage for the live recording, as will fiddle legend Bobby Hicks and award-winning vocalist Marty Raybon. Songs set to be cut include bluegrass favorites like Little Maggie and Molly And Tennbrooks, plus You Can’t Have One Without The Other, which Darrell nows sings as a part of Rhonda’s show.

If you’ll be in East Tennessee, there is no admission charge to attend the taping, but seating is limited. Contact info can be found online.

Ashby Frank

He lives in Nashville, which necessitates a lot of travel since Special C is based in Chicago, but Ashby feels that Music City offers him a great many opportunities for session work and musical interaction that he can’t find elsewhere.

One of those offshoots is Mashville Brigade, a loose-knit group of sidemen who get together on Tuesday nights at Nashville’s fabled Station Inn. Members include Frank on mandolin, Darrel Webb on guitar, Jim Van Cleve on fiddle, Greg Martin on bass and Aaron McDarris on banjo. They typically perform bluegrass classics, but have developed a strong following based as much on their quirky, irreverent sense of humor as for their prodigious musical abilities.

One of those special talents is vocal impressions, and a recent YouTube video demonstrates that Ashby and Darrell have the goods to give such stalwarts of the genre as Tim Stafford and Steve Gulley a run for their money. The video is a bit shaky but the audio is fine, and their take on John Conlee and Willie Nelson is hilarious.

Ashby tells us that this side project has been a blast for all concerned, allowing the members to have some fun outside of their primary gigs. Webb now tours with Rhonda Vincent, Van Cleve is a part of Mountain Heart and McDarris plays with The Grascals, so a Tuesday night playing bluegrass favorites is a welcome weekly diversion.

We’ve been doing the Mashville Brigade thing for over a year, and we’re all really happy that it’s turned into one of the biggest nights of the week at the Station Inn. Every Tuesday is kind of like a party/family reunion.

So many people have requested some kind of recorded music from us, and fortunately the great folks over at Rural Rhythm found a way for us to do that.

It’s really awesome for me to get to play with some of my best friends and in my opinion some of the best pickers and singers in bluegrass every Tuesday when we’re all off the road. We really wanted to capture the live feeling and energy that this group of guys carries to the stage, so we recorded it live at the Station Inn but without an audience.

All of the tunes are very traditional bluegrass songs, and I think it’s going to give people that don’t live in Nashville a chance to feel like they’re hanging out in the Station Inn late on a Tuesday night.

The project will be titled something to the effect of ”Smash Hits of Bluegrass” because we’re covering some of the most played, requested, and well loved classics that the genre has to offer, basically the songs of the older generation performed by a group of young pickers.

We think that this will help people that aren’t very bluegrass savvy become more knowledgeable about this band and our genre of music.

Hopefully we’ll have it available for purchase online in the not so distant future. Check out our MySpace page for more information

Ashby has just made his way to Saskatchewan for a Special Consensus show with the Regina Symphony Orchestra, a last minute show filling in for Jerusalem Ridge.

Rhonda is taking most of the remainder of 2007 off the road, but Darrell will be in tow when they kick off the new year early in ‘08.

On her official bulletin board, Rhonda had this to say about her newest Rager:

“Though Darrell is accomplished on every bluegrass instrument, his new position as the official guitarist for Rhonda Vincent & The Rage marks the first in his career on guitar.

Darrell brings his incredible vocal style and veteran musicianship to The Rage.

The group has already established an original sound with Darrell, as they have recently added a new original song, featuring Darrell on a stand out bass vocal. A very unique trait for a trademark tenor singer; and a true testament to the astounding vocal range of Darrell Webb.”

In recent months, a new group of sidemen have come together to fill the void. They call themselves the Mashville Brigade. The group performs most Tuesday nights at The Station Inn and consists of pickers who all play in different bands on the road.

The line up may not be exactly the same every night if one or more of the guys has a gig somewhere, but the group more or less consists of Aaron McDaris (banjo), Ashby Frank (mandolin), Darrel Webb (guitar), Greg Martin or Randall Barnes (bass), and Jim VanCleve (fiddle).

The group makes an effort to play a strait up hard driving bluegrass setlist each Tuesday night, entertaining the crowd of hardcore fans who turn out for the shows.

Tonight, the line up will be a little different, as the band welcomes a few friends to the stage to “Mash” one with them.

At tonight’s show, band will be:

Josh Williams – guitar and vocals (formerly of Rhonda Vincent)
Darrel Webb – Mandolin and vocals (Currently with Rhonda Vincent)
Tim Dishman – Bass (Special Consensus)
Scott Vestal – Banjo (Sam Bush Band)
Jim VanCleve – Fiddle (Mountain Heart)
Daren Shumaker – sound engineer (Ronnie Bowman & Mountain Heart)

We’re expecting a fun crowd and a lot of energy, as we just recently fronted a show for Dierks Bently (where he graciously gave the Mashville Brigade a glowing review from the stage) at a Charity event in Nashville. You just never know who’s gonna drop in and mash one or two with the band, too, so it’s usually pretty interesting!

The Station Inn has dubbed the Mashville Brigade shows as $5 Tuesdays. The cover charge, pizzas, and pitchers of beer are each $5. If you’re in town, be sure to stop by and watch the guys Mash one!

Darrell Webb will be in tow for the weekend, filling the guitar slot recently vacated by Josh Williams.

Rhonda has some very gracious words of congratulation on her message board for 2007 Female Vocalist of the Year, Dale Ann Bradley.

“Though I would have loved to have brought home #8, I am very happy for Dale Ann Bradley.  Congratulations to you.  You are awesome!”

Whaley was a founding member of Pine Mountain Railroad, and performs now with Greenbrier. His songwriting and vocals were a distinctive part of the early PMR sound, and are the feature on the new live release as well.

An Evening With Jimbo Whaley & Friends will be officially released on May 19, where he and Greenbrier will be appearing at the Bloomin’ BBQ and Bluegrass Festival in Sevierville, TN.

The newest entry in the 2006 Bluegrass Band Sweepstakes is Flash Train, from Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains, with former members of some of the top acts in the business. Their resumes include time with James King, Lonesome River Band, JD Crowe, Wildfire and The Warrior River Boys.

Flash Train consists of Joe Clark on mandolin, Andy Ruff on dobro, Darrell Webb on guitar, Nicholas Ball on banjo and Jerry Cole on bass.

Their web site is still under construction, but you can contact them from there. They also have a page on MySpace which includes four audio samples from the new band.

As a side note, we hear from Curt Chapman of Wildfire that they have brought in new members and will be continuing on with their own brand of contemporary bluegrass. We expect to be able to announce their new lineup in a few days.

They are calling themselves Mashville Brigade, and they debuted at The Station Inn on December 5. Ashby said that they have more dates there in January, and hope to move into a semi-regular Tuesday night slot there next year.

The group consists of Frank (with Alecia Nugent’s band) on mandolin, Darrel Webb (of Wildfire) on guitar, Jim VanCleve (of Mountain Heart) on fiddle, Greg Martin on bass, and Aaron McDaris (the newest member of The Grascals) on banjo.

The new band got a nice feature in The Nashville City Paper last week, in which Ashby shared an insight into the name of the group.

"In bluegrass circles we always talk about really getting into something and mashing it," Frank said. "We’re going to be playing bluegrass styled music, but it will be very upbeat, a party type rather than more staid or traditional material. We’re not a jam band, but we will be playing an explosive, enjoyable brand of acoustic music."

Ashby told us that they will perform material from the various members’ solo projects, and bluegrass jam classics.

A few years ago, Steve came up with the idea to put a group together with members of other groups, to perform shows during December. The idea has since grown into a mini-tour, with this year’s edition featuring Clay Jones from Mountain Heart on guitar, John Wade from The James King Band on bass, Ron Stewart from JD Crowe & The New South on fiddle, Darrell Webb from Wildfire on mandolin, and Dilling on banjo.

Steve says that the holiday tour grew from a single show, with interest in the band expanding as the word goes out.

“The idea of this band is something that I started a few years ago. Back then, it was just for one night on a local basis here around the Raleigh area. In 2005, I had the idea of seeing if I could take this on the road, and quickly booked a few gigs. After the success of last years shows, I thought that I would try it again. Now I am actually getting promoters wanting us to do a few festivals. I don’t know if that will happen, because we are all so busy with our individual bands… but it is kind of nice to be in demand.

I hope to record this band at some point, because I feel strong about the music that we are playing, and it would be nice to have something to sell on the road when we do play. Most of the guys have individual solo recordings, so we have worked up some material form each of those, we also do a few Christmas songs, as well as some standards, but most of all, we have a great time. It is a time to enjoy playing, and get out of the normal band routine situation. I hope that everyone will come out and see the band.”

They will do four shows over the next week or so in Galax VA, Grayson KY, Bradshaw WV and Frederick MD. You can find details on these shows on Steve’s web site.