Missy Raines‘ fine band, The New Hip, keeps getting younger, and Missy just keeps getting… better!

She has announced that Dominick Leslie, mandolinist l’enfant terrible currently studying at the Berklee College of Music, will be joining her on the road this summer.

They will be heading out next week for a tour of Colorado and California with young Dom in tow.

• June 4th: Swallow Hill, Denver CO -  With the Boston Boys
• June 6-7: Pagosa Springs Folk and Bluegrass Festival – Pagosa Springs, CO
• June 9th: Don Quixote’s Music Hall – Felton CA
• June 11th: Freight and Salvage – Berkeley CA
• June 12th: Sutter Creek Theatre – Sutter Creek CA
• June 13th: The Youth Annex – Sebastopol, CA
• June 14th: The Palms Playhouse -  Winters CA

In addition to Missy on bass and vocals and Dominick guesting on mandolin, The New Hip consists of Mike Witcher on resonator guitar, Ethan Ballinger on guitar and Robert Crawford on drums.

Last night (9/29), Brance and I ventured out to the late night IBMA showcases and watched a number of exciting young performers. We saw Farewell Drifters, Dominic Leslie and Josh Williams, and spoke at some length with Joe Dean, the 19 year old banjo picker with Dailey & Vincent.

We came away with three different looks at how this next generation might take the music, and a renewed respect for the skill and vision of these yong artists, and the determination of the bluegrass business community to nurture and promote their careers.

The first act we caught was The Farewell Drifters and while I was familiar with their debut CD, Sweet Summer Breeze I had never seen them perform in person. Their live show was different in many ways. They had the requisite instrumentation (banjo, mandolin, bass and two guitars) but they neither look nor present themselves like the typical young bluegrass band.

Their look and their original material are drawn as much from the singer/songwriter boom of the late 1960s as from the earlier legacy of the bluegrass founders. The songs are introspective and personal, and the playing is subdued and clearly secondary to the melodies and lyrics. Even their stage banter had a quirky and nervous energy, much in keeping with the band’s slightly oddball demeanor.

Next, we caught part of a showcase from mandolinist Dominick Leslie, a first year student at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston. Dominick grew up in Colorado and has been playing bluegrass since he was ten years old. He had taken the second place prize in both the Walnut Valley and Merlefest mandolin competitions before finishing high school.

Dominick performed with a number of young Boston musicians, fellow Berklee student Sam Grisman on bass, Jordan Tice on guitar and Wes Corbett on banjo. All were strong, adventurous soloists and the music they played was challenging both harmonically and technically. In the audience for this showcase were Berklee professor David Hollender, and college president Roger Brown, as well as Andy Falco from The Infamous Stringdusters who has hooting at hollering his encouragement with every hot lick.

The pickers not only had to impress their peers and industry types, but their teacher and headmaster as well! The influence of Chris Thile and his merry band was clear in the band’s music – not a band example at all for such talented young players. Remember their names.

We then wandered down the concourse to see Josh Williams perform with his new band. This time, the music was straightahead contemporary bluegrass from one of the certain rising stars in this business. Josh had memorable stints with Special Consensus and Rhonda Vincent before launching his solo career. He already has three CD projects under his name – not bad for a 28 year old singer and guitarist. (more…)