The sophomore release from Grasstowne, The Other Side Of Towne, came out on October 6. As visible as these guys have been since they formed in December of 2006, it seems a bit odd that this is only their second CD. Perhaps that is because these guys had all been involved in top-tier bluegrass bands for so many years beforehand.

Grasstowne features Alan Bibey on mandolin, Steve Gulley on guitar, Phil Leadbetter on resonator guitar, Jason Davis on banjo and Dale Perry on bass. All contribute vocally, with Gulley and Bibey doing the lead singing.

You can hear several audio samples (and read some comments from Alan Bibey) in our August preview, and samples from all 14 tracks can be found on the Grasstowne site and in iTunes.

Larry Sparks’ I Just Want To Thank You Lord was released on October 20, the official debut of Rural Rhythm Christian, a new division of the popular California-based label. Though previously released in 2001 to very limited distribution, the tracks have been remastered and this music will be new to the great majority of Sparks fans far and wide.

This music is classic Sparks – unpretentious, unadorned and, frankly, unequaled. Larry’s singing and guitar are in fine form with stellar contributions from Josh McMurray on banjo, Scott Napier on mandolin and Matthew Madden on bass. The sparse arrangements perfectly suit the gravity of the material, and I would rank I Just Want To Thank You Lord with the very best work of his long and remarkable career.

Here’s a taste of the title track, a Sparks original composition.

I Just Want To Thank You Lord – Listen Now    

What a gem. The full track also includes a poignant recitation.

Look for I Just Want To Thank You Lord wherever you purchase CDs online. The digital release will be on November 17.

Del McCoury may be slowing down his tour schedule, but not his recorded output. After releasing a 4 CD set of newly-recorded music earlier this year (Celebrating 50 Years of Del McCoury), Del is back with another new album, Family Circle (October 20), featuring his crack band.

McCoury has developed a trademark sound recording music from outside of bluegrass – often way outside – but performing it with the approach and sensibility of a traditional bluegrass band. Unsurprisingly, this new project follows that recipe to a “T,” and the result is yet another thoroughly enjoyable visit with Del and the boys.

Powerful and artful accompaniment is provided by Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, Rob McCoury on banjo, Jason Carter on fiddle and Alan Bartram on bass.

You can hear full audio from all 14 tracks in our earlier preview, and samples in iTunes.

Loveless returned to her traditional roots for her Mountain Soul album, released in 2001. That CD featured the talents of Earl Scruggs, Travis Tritt, Ricky Skaggs, Jon Randall, Stuart Duncan, Ron Ickes, and Jeff White on a set of bluegrass-flavored music. It was a critically-acclaimed success, fairly well-supported by Epic Records, and Patty took a string band out with her to tour.

Just last month, she released a follow-up, Mountain Soul II, another rousing set of bluegrass and traditional country music. Many of the songs are new, and the sound is acoustic, sincere and mighty powerful. Like Volume I, this one is produced by Patty’s husband, Emory Gordy Jr., and includes contributions from Rob Ickes, Jon Randall plus Vince Gill, Carl Jackson, Bryan Sutton, Mike Auldridge and Emmylou Harris.

Here’s a video of Patty in the studio, tracking Working On A Building with Del and Ronnie McCoury, and talking about how she came to include this song.

Audio for several complete tracks can be heard on Patty’s web site.

The pre-order page offers a number of interesting Family Circle packages, from a simple MP3 download for $8.99 up to a special mega-fan pack that includes an autographed CD, immediate download, and a framed and autographed printer’s proof of the CD artwork for $199. Only a few of the framed proofs are available.

Other packages that include autographed CDs and posters are also available. Check them all out online.

Have a listen to the new album, courtesy of McCoury Music.

The railroad still exists and is preserved as a historic site. You can visit the White Pass & Yukon Route website to see a video they put together using Del’s cut of this song as the soundtrack. The video features mostly black and white historic photos and footage matched to the storyline of the song. It’s very interesting to watch and you’ll learn a little American history in the process, which is always a good thing. It’s the last video on the page, so scroll to the bottom and you’ll see it.

Below I’ve embedded the widget allowing you to download the track White Pass Railroad. You’ll have to give them your email address, but it’s a painless process. I tried it out myself and it worked flawlessly. Don’t forget to watch our video interview with Del from IBMA 2009, where he talks about this new CD.

The pre-order page offers a number of interesting Family Circle packages, from a simple MP3 download for $8.99 up to a special mega-fan pack that includes an autographed CD, immediate download, and a framed and autographed printer’s proof of the CD artwork for $199. Only a few of the framed proofs are available.

Other packages that include autographed CDs and posters are also available. Check them all out online.

Have a listen to the new album, courtesy of McCoury Music.

John asked the questions, Del did most of the talking, and I was behind the camera…

Click here to view the embedded video.

McCoury Music

A new Nashville office will open within a month to handle all aspects of the business, which involves recordings for The Del McCoury Band and other artists (like Merle Haggard), publishing for Del’s original music, and the popular DelFest which is held each summer in Cumberland, MD. They will also manage The Travelin’ McCourys, which is made up of Del’s band, minus Del.

Harris expressed gratitude at being chosen to head this new expansion, and has high hopes for the future of McCoury Music.

“I think we’ve assembled the proper team, and taken the right steps over the past couple of years to allow McCoury Music to not only thrive during a difficult period for the music industry, but help others succeed as well. There are at least two more generations of McCoury pickers after Del, so I’m excited to be involved in something that can be around for a long time.”

Stan Strickland of Rainmaker will continue to handle touring for The Del McCoury Band but all other aspects of the “family business” will be run from McCoury Music.

We expect to speak with Del later today and hope to get some more details.

The songs come from some familiar sources, with a few surprises as well.

Billy and Terry Smith co-wrote I’m Justified with Del, a Gospel song. Actually, Del said that they sent him a finished demo, but feeling it was a bit short, he added another verse. When he got their approval, he decided to cut it.

Barbaric Splendor is one of two Joe New songs on the CD.

Blue Highway may have been the first major bluegrass band to record a song from Mark Knopfler, whose Marbletown was the title of their 2005 CD. Now Del has one of his own, Prairie Wedding, though Del had to raise the key substantially from Knopfler’s original cut.

Surely my favorite is I Remember You, the two-time hit for Slim Whitman. Del’s voice is a natural for the warbly, yodelly chorus.

Del and Ronnie McCoury are credited as producers, though Del says that he picked the material himself.

“I guess I produced it. With Rob and Ronnie and Jason and Alan out doing more on their own now as the Travelin’ McCourys, I pretty much put this together on my own‚Äìand I really like it!  I didn’t start out to do something different, but that’s how it turned out!”

This brings up a question that has been on the minds of many a Del fan this year. The Travelin’ McCourys have many more dates booked than does The Del McCoury Band, and Del-heads are starting to wonder how much longer Del will be out on the road.

Will this be the last Del McCoury project? Is Del drifting towards retirement? At 70 years old, hasn’t he surely earned it?

We’ll be sure to ask him next week at IBMA.

The song tells a compelling story of James and Red Molly and their fascination with other, and with his classic motorbike. Now James is a bad boy – part of his attraction for Molly – and things end poorly for him in the song, written by British guitarist, singer and songwriter Richard Thompson.

The first time I heard the track, it sounded like it would make a fine treatment for a film script, and it seems that Al Sciarrino had the same reaction. He has spun the bare-bones story from the song into a full-length novel, Vincent Black Lightning 1952, due for publication by Cape Fear Media in early October.

Sciarrino is an attorney and a professor of business law in New York whose first novel, Officer Candidate School, was published in 1994. That book was based on his experience in the U.S. Army Signal Corps Officer Candidate School, and dealt with questions about military hazing.

His love of music and motorcycles is what led him to his newest undertaking.

“What inspired me to write a novel based on the bluegrass hit, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning was the jumpy cool version by Del McCoury and the lyrics. I must have played the song a hundred times the first few days. I did not know much about Del McCoury and bluegrass until that song and, of course the movie O Brother Where Art Thou. Now I’m a real aficionado of bluegrass and learning more about it each day!

My novel is loosely based on the song…I make James Adi less of a calculated robber and a little more like Robin Hood…and I also bring in the Korean War.”

The book will be released in conjunction with ibluegrass.com and Solid Gold Country. Pre-orders will be accepted beginning on September 16.

**NOTE: To avoid confusion, the Richard Thompson who wrote this fine song – and a good many others – is not our Richard F. Thompson, a regular contributor to The Bluegrass Blog and editor of British Bluegrass News.

Not six months after releasing a 50 song career retrospective, with all recently recorded tracks, Del and the boys have another new album ready for release on October 27.

Family Circle was recorded this summer, featuring new songs from Billy Smith, Shawn Camp, Ronnie Bowman, Jim Lauderdale, Mark Knopfler and more. Del also gives his signature take on a couple of country songs: I Remember You, a la Slim Whitman, and Does My Ring Burn Your Finger, a hit for Lee Ann Womack.

The Del McCoury Band features Del on guitar and vocals, sons Rob McCoury on banjo and Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, with Jason Carter on fiddle and Alan Bartram on bass.

Sam had told us that it was one that his bluegrass and newgrass fans would really appreciate, and he wasn’t kidding. Other than the subtle percussion from Sam’s regular drummer, Chris Brown, this is pretty much a bluegrass record – and Bush has quite a bluegrass group lurking underneath his rock-edged road band.

Through all 14+ tracks, Scott Vestal shows why he has been held in such high regard by banjo players these many years, initially as a hard-driving Scruggs/Baucom/Crowe picker with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and later as an envelope-pusher with his own recordings. On Circles his playing is simply brilliant, as is Stephen Mougin’s tasteful acoustic guitar. Byron House has been a bass player’s, bass player for years, and he delivers solid timing with a huge tone – as always.

Sam is in fine voice, and the production is transparent, leaving the sound of the acoustic instruments to ring true with very little compression or effects. He is featured most prominently on mandolin, and Del McCoury even joins in for a couple of duets. Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer also appear as guests. Courtney Johnson even makes a posthumous appearance in a banjo/fiddle duet recorded in 1976.

We hope to be able to stream some audio from this terrific CD soon, but in the meantime, here’s Sam with a few words about when you can get your own copy…

Click here to view the embedded video.

These shows are professionally recorded and mixed and each contains at least one full live set.

Fees range from $10-$15 for each show and an annual subscription bills for $100, with 2 free months for pre-payment. Full details online.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Be sure to visit Merlavage Images to see all 300 photos.

The show will air live on Saturday (5/30) at 6:00 p.m. (EDT) from The Fox Theater in St. Louis, MO, though many stations choose to air the program on Sunday afternoon.

Check the station listing for when the show airs in your area, or you can catch the live airing via online streaming.

Perhaps host Garrison Keiller will ask Del about the Del-uge at last weekend’s DelFest in Maryland – or maybe they will sing Wasn’t That A Mighty Storm?

UPDATE 10:20 -  The folks at Maryland Mountainside (Allegheny County Tourism Department) have posted a video on YouTube that follows Del on The Bluegrass Train from last week, just prior to the opening of DelFest. It was created by videographer Ty DeMartino.

“DelFest starts today but we had a good size crowd gather in Cumberland yesterday (Thursday, May 21) to ride the Bluegrass Train with Del McCoury.  The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad donated 100 tickets to Bluegrass Country to sell as a fundraiser.  Those tickets (and about 145 others) went quickly.

Del and Jean McCoury and their grandchildren joined us on the train for a 3+ hour roundtrip from Cumberland to Frostburg, MD on the train pulled by a steam engine. The rest of the Del McCoury Band were teaching at the DelFest Academy.

During a 45-minute layover in Frostburg, Vinegar Creek Constituency, who won the Delfest band competition last year, played while the audience picnic’d. Del got up and sang a couple songs with them.

On the trip back Del and Jean and all the other riders signed the Bill Monroe Stamp Petition. Weather was perfect, perfect, perfect!”

The show airs at noon with a repeat at 3:00 p.m. and the video is streamed live online.

Co-host Doug McElway is a fine banjo picker as well as a TV newser. This performance was taped in advance, and in addition to talking to Del about the upcoming DelFest in Maryland, Doug said that he got to pick one with Del and the boys.

“I kicked off Lonesome Road Blues, where Del modulates up to C to sing the verses, then back to G for the breaks. Mind you, he was singing that at 10 in the morning, after an all night drive from Nashville. My hero‚Ķ..”

Del’s appearance comes in at about 45 minutes past the hour.

After the repeat this afternoon, video of the episode will be archived for several weeks at letstalklive.tv.

Now McCoury Music has announced some special bonuses only available by ordering through the McCoury Music website.

Firstly, all box sets will be autographed and that will come with a Best of Del McCoury Gospel CD that you can’t get anywhere else. You can also upgrade your package to include a live Del McCoury Band show, and an autographed print of the  box set artwork.

In addition to the box set McCoury Music have compiled a By Request CD that includes a dozen songs that the McCourys felt were the songs that they hear the fans request most often during their shows each night. It can also be included with an upgraded online order.

By Request features ….

Items may be ordered now for delivery on May 12, the official release date for the box set.

When you place your order, you’ll receive a secret link and password to a page where you can hear all 50 songs and view all of the artwork online immediately.

Del-heads rejoice!

Del even draped himself with Ben’s sousaphone backstage, and was caught on camera. A new direction for the Delmeister perhaps?

McCoury recorded recently with the Preservation Hall band for a multi-artist box set to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims. The Del McCoury Band will be guests at the Hall on April 26 following their appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

        

Celebrating 50 Years Of Del McCoury will include 50 tracks marking Del’s five decades in bluegrass, plus a 12 page color booklet.

All of the music was recorded with The Del McCoury Band, the bulk of it in a recent set of marathon sessions. These involved recutting better than 30 songs from the first 40 years of Del’s long career, coupled with 18 top tracks from his recent recordings.

The box set will retail for $49.95, or as Chris Harris with McCoury Music put it, “50 years/50 songs/50 dollars.” This is one every McCoury fan will want to own, and any serious collector of bluegrass music should have in their library.

Track listing follows:

The booklet is said to contain photos from the McCoury family archives, many of which have never been published.

Performing on the set are Del McCoury on guitar and lead vocals, Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, Rob McCoury on banjo, Jason Carter on fiddle, and both Alan Bartram and Mike Bub on bass.