Learn the name of Doyle Lawson’s bus in this sixth episdoe of the Ask Doyle web series.

If it’s Friday, it must be time for another installment of Ask Doyle, Doyle Lawson’s weekly webisode. Hear Doyle describe how he chooses which songs to include on a show, and what it takes to be a part of his band.

And here is part 4 of the Ask Doyle webisode series…

The Ask Doyle webisode series continues today with #3, wherein Doyle Lawson answers fan-submitted questions about his mandolins, his footwear collection and songs that have been submitted for consideration by the band.

You can submit your own question for future episodes by simply adding a comment to this post.

In which Doyle Lawson answers the burning question, “What’s on your iPod?”

There will be a trivia contest at the end of this webisode series, with amazing prizes for the winners who have mastered all manner of Lawson lore from these videos.

In support of his new Rounder CD, Lonely Street, Doyle Lawson has launched a weekly online video series called Ask Doyle, where fans are encouraged to submit question which Doyle will answer online.

The first episode is in the form of a “behind-the-scenes” peek at an interview Lawson did with Bill Cody at WSM in Nashville. Bill manages to stump Doyle with a couple of obscure trivia questions about his long career in bluegrass music, which led to this Ask Doyle promotion, and a special trivia contest for Doyle Lawson fans.

Each Friday, a new video will be posted on YouTube, MySpace and here on The Bluegrass Blog. To submit a question for Doyle to ask in a future webisode, just leave a comment where you watch the video.

Here’s the first installment.

Doyle Lawson’s latest Rounder release, Lonely Street, hits today (5/5).

In keeping with his current practice of alternating themes every other CD, this project is a primarily secular recording. The material is drawn from some of today’s top songwriters, with a number of classics thrown into the mix. New songs included came from Carl Jackson, Buddy Cannon, Mark Simos and Chris Stuart. Lawson also covers songs from Marty Robbins and Porter Wagoner, in addition to the title song which was a hit in the late 1950s and the 1960s for Andy Williams and Patsy Cline, performed here as a vocal trio throughout.

This album was recorded in the Fall of 2008 with Doyle’s then current band: Darren Beachley (guitar/vocal), Carl White (bass/vocal), Joey Cox (banjo), Josh Swift (resophonic guitar) and Brandon Godman (fiddle), with Lawson on mandolin and vocals.

The CD starts with a tribute to the Father Of Bluegrass, Monroe’s Mandolin, which Doyle said was a special song for him.

“I’m hearing Bill Monroe’s name mentioned less and less these days, and I don’t want to see that happen. He’s the reason I play bluegrass and I wanted to do something to put Bill’s name back out front.

This song was cut by The Bressler Brothers and when I was putting songs together for this CD it seemed like a perfect fit.

Monroe’s Mandolin  -  Listen now:   

The track starts with a solo mandolin (Evening Shadows, a tune of mine) and we put some nature sounds in the background. Bill loved the outdoors - loved to watch his horses and chickens - and I could just envision someone sitting on their front porch playing the mandolin, like I did as a boy.

The track ends with the first part of Watermelon on The Vine, which was Mr. Monroe’s theme song when he hosted the Opry.”

Another song that Doyle said was special to him is Yesterday’s Songs, written by Lisa Shaffer, Mark Simos and Jon Weisberger.

Yesterday’s Songs  -  Listen now:   

“This one really hit home for me. I can so clearly recall the voices as I was walking by a church, and hearing them sing the old songs.

Jon Weisberger sent me this song while we were in the studio, and I liked it so well that we started working on it right away.”

Lonely Street is available now wherever bluegrass music is sold, from the Doyle Lawson web site and in iTunes.

Doyle Lawson marked April 1, 2009 as his 30th Anniversary as a band leader.

That was the date in 1979 when he rehearsed his first band, Doyle Lawson & Foxfire, which soon was changed to Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. That seminal band featured Doyle on mandolin, Terry Baucom on banjo, Jimmy Haley on guitar and Lou Reid on bass.

Their first, self-titled record helped define modern bluegrass music as much as any other this past thirty years, and sounds as fresh today as when it was first recorded. Over this period some of today’s most critically acclaimed artists have passed through Doyle’s band, and left their mark on his more than 30 recordings of bluegrass and Gospel music.

In addition to the original members listed above, Doyle has hired, tutored and said goodbye to such noted players as banjo pickers Scott Vestal, Jim Mills and Dale Perry, lead vocalists/guitarists Russell Moore, Steve Gulley, and Jamie Dailey, fiddlers Shawn Lane and Mike Hartgrove, and bass players Ray Deaton and Barry Scott. He counts 39 musicians in total who have worked as a member of Quicksilver.

Doyle tells us that this past 30 years have also seen him go through six buses and a motor home, with 17 different bus drivers (including himself). He has released records with six labels, containing 494 songs.

Before launching his solo career, he had memorable stints with JD Crowe’s Kentucky Mountain Boys and The Country Gentlemen. That is a strong enough resume to retire on, but Doyle is showing no signs of slowing down with a busy 2009 schedule posted on line.

May 5 will see the release on Rounder of Lawson’s 34th album, Lonely Street, recorded with his current band: Joey Cox on banjo, Carl White on bass, Josh Swift on resonator guitar, Jason Barie on fiddle and Darren McGuire on guitar.

UPDATE 4/7:  As Jon Weisberger pointed out in his comment, Darren Beachley is on guitar on the new Doyle Lawson CD and Brandon Godman is on fiddle. We just got our copy today.

Subscribers to Sirius-XM will have a first chance to hear music from the next Doyle Lawson CD, Lonely Street, starting tomorrow (4/1) on Bluegrass Junction.

Doyle joins host Kyle Cantrell at 11:00 a.m. (EDT) to play each of the album’s 12 tracks and talk about the songs.

Lonely Street won’t be released until May 5 on Rounder, and this is likely to be the first broadcast of any music from the CD.

If you miss the show on Wednesday, it will run again on Sunday (4/5) at 11:00 a.m. and on Tuesday (4/7) at 9:00 p.m.

Bluegrass Junction can be found on Sirius track 14 and XM channel 65.

The next secular release from Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, entitled Lonely Street, will be released on May 5.

The album, recorded October and November 2008 at Crossroads Studios, Arden, North Carolina, and produced by Lawson, features 11 bluegrass tracks and a gospel song, Chris Stuart’s When the Last of Our Days Shall Come tagged on at the end. It will be available on the Rounder label (0635).

Monroe’s Mandolin, which was first recorded by The Bressler Brothers, and was previewed at the recent IBMA Award Show, opens the set and that is followed by several songs from the classic country era; Carl Belew’s title song, performed as a trio and given an up-tempo treatment; Porter Wagoner’s Big Wind; Marty Robbins’s Call Me Up and I’ll Come Callin’ On You; and the Buddy Cannon -Tommy Collins collaboration Ain’t A Woman Somebody When She’s Gone.

More recent compositions include Oh Heart, Look What You’ve Done from Carl Jackson and Russ Roberts; the topical The Human Race from Tim Mensy, Jimmy Phillips and Gene Dobbins; and Yesterday’s Songs from Lisa Shaffer, Mark Simos and Jon Weisberger. The instrumental Down Around Bear Cove, written by Josh Swift and Doyle Lawson, provides some more contrast.

The musicians featured are Doyle Lawson (mandolin, vocals), Darren Beachley (guitar, vocals), Carl White (bass, vocals), Joey Cox (banjo), Josh Swift (resophonic guitar, Weisenborn guitar and percussion), and Brandon Godman and David Johnson– fiddle.

Doyle Lawson has received numerous awards in his illustrious career – he was the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship, the Endowment’s highest honor granted to traditional and folk artists for career accomplishments. Lawson and his band Quicksilver have also picked up the IBMA award for Best Vocal Group an unprecedented seven years in a row.

His third album for Rounder, Lonely Street, proves beyond a doubt that Doyle’s artistry is top notch, his mastery of the genre is without question and his legacy as one of the genre’s most inspiring musicians and band leaders is assured.

Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver can be heard showcasing this material at their many personal appearances throughout the United States.

The Gospel Music Association on Friday (2/20) announced the nominations for their forthcoming awards show.
Among the finalists for the 40th Annual Dove Awards are the following nominees in the two bluegrass categories.

Bluegrass Recorded Song (song; album; artist; writer; label)

• Help Is On The Way; Help Is On The Way; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Michael E. Reed; Horizon Records
• I See A Crimson Stream; Sounds Like Sunday; Janet Paschal; Garfield T. Haywood; Vine Records
• The Old White Flag; You Gotta Love It!; Triumphant Quartet; Dianne Wilkinson; Daywind Records
• They’re Holding Up The Ladder; We Are Family; Jeff & Sheri Easter, Lewis Family, Easter Brothers; Russell Easter, James Easter, Edd Easter; Daywind Records
• What Will I Wear?; I Just Wanted You To Know; Kim Hopper; Deborah Bailey; Canaan Records

Bluegrass Album (album; artist; producer; label)

• Bluegrass Worship; Various; Steve Ivey; Star Song Music
• Help Is On The Way; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Doyle Lawson; Horizon Records
• Hymns From Chigger Hill; Chigger Hill Boys & Terri; Mike Richards, Terri Argot Gore, Ricky Gore, Mark Dunham, Bobby Strangenberg, Ethan Blair, Justin Kropf; Daywind Records
• I Don’t Regret A Mile; Larry Sparks; Larry Sparks; Sparks Music
• Pickin’, Praisin’, & Singin’: Hymns From The Mountain; Cody Shuler & Pine Mountain Railroad; Bill McBee, Dale Thomas, Jerry Cole, Cody Shuler, Matt Flake; Rural Rhythm
• We Are Family; Jeff & Sheri Easter, Lewis Family, Easter Brothers; Jeff Easter, Sheri Easter; Daywind Records
• What A Journey; Paul Williams & The Victory Trio; Paul Williams; Rebel Records

Bluegrass artists, musicians, producers and labels are also represented among the nominees in a variety of other categories, most notably in the following …..

Special Event Album (album; artist; producer; label)

• Billy: The Early Years Official Motion Picture Soundtrack; Brooks & Dunn, Mac Powell, Sara Evans, Alan Jackson, China Edelman, Patty Griffin, Brandon Heath, Gregory Page, Michael W. Smith, Melinda Doolittle, Roy Orbison, Brad Paisley, Josh Turner, Sierra Hull, John Cowan, Harry Stinson, Ronnie Bowman, Ronnie McCoury, John Wesley Ryles; Anastasia Brown; Arista Nashville, Essential Records
• Country Bluegrass Homecoming Volume One; Gaither Vocal Band, Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, The Grascals, Buddy Greene, The Isaacs, Gordon Mote, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, The Booth Brothers, George Jones, Wesley Pritchard, Reggie & Ladye Love Smith, Brittany Allen, Jeff & Sheri Easter, Charlotte Ritchie, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Jimmy Fortune, Dailey & Vincent, Jason Crabb, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Cherryholmes, Lisa Daggs-Charette, Vince Gill, Sonya Isaacs, Becky Isaacs Bowman; Bill Gaither; Gaither Music Group
• How Great Thou Art: Gospel Favorites from the Grand Ole Opry; The Charlie Daniels Band, Mac Powell, Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless, Ronnie Milsap, Ricky Skaggs & The Whites, Sara Evans, Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins, Loretta Lynn, Vince Gill, Dierks Bentley, Carrie Underwood; Steve Gibson; Sony BMG Nashville

Long Form Music Video (title; artist; director; producer; production company; label)

• Country Bluegrass Homecoming Volume One; Bill & Gloria Gaither; Doug Stuckey; Bill Gaither; Gaither Television Productions; Gaither Music Group

The recipients will be announced at the televised show on April 23 in Nashville, Tennessee.

A complete list of nominees and more information about the GMA and the Dove Awards is available online.

Well… it’s that time again. Doyle Lawson has a new band to introduce to the bluegrass world.

In more than 30 years as a band leader, Lawson has seen more than a few musicians learn the ropes in his organization, and then move on to launch their own careers in bluegrass.

A look at the top drawing acts headlining the 2009 festivals bears this out. Singers Russell Moore, Steve Gulley and Jamie Dailey all came to prominence singing for Doyle. Jim Mills and Scott Vestal’s banjo picking likewise were first featured nationally touring with Lawson.

In fact, two existing bands, IIIrd Tyme Out and Mountain Heart, got their start when the founding members decamped en masse from Quicksilver.

But each time the band gets a new look, Doyle wishes them well, and finds strong new players and singers to keep moving forward.

“I learned a long time ago that changes would be a part of this business. When we first got together as Quicksilver, we knew that we wouldn’t always be together - somebody was always going to leave. And I don’t harbor any ill will. When they leave, I wish them the best.

Changes occur - nothing you can do about that, but with each change, I try to always have the best possible show I can for the people who follow my music.

It gives me a sense of pride when I see these guys go on to succeed on their own. I have freely shared my knowledge with the people who have worked for me. I know which ones really paid attention, and which ones didn’t. When I see somebody come through who did pay attention - like I did as a young man playing with Jimmy Martin, JD Crowe and The Country Gentlemen - I’m never surprised when they find success.”

Doyle says that rehearsals are going very well, and that he is very pleased with the sound of his latest group. Banjo player Joey Cox, resonator guitarist Josh Swift and bass man Carl White are still on board, with fiddler Jason Barie and guitarist Darren McGuire hopping on the bus for the first time this weekend for shows in Ashland and Prestonburg, KY. (more…)

Darren Beachley has announced that he will be leaving Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver at the end of this month.

Here is his statement about the move…

“I will be leaving the group at the end of January. It was a life long dream to work here, but once you fulfill a dream, you have to move on to the next one. Now it’s time to put my stamp on the music with all the influences I have had in my career. I have had a good run here, and am proud of what was accomplished.

I feel I was a part of some ground breaking things. The first song I ever sang when I came here was He Lives In Me which became the second longest charting southern gospel song in history, along with winning IBMA’s gospel recorded performance of the year. I was very fortunate when I came here to be a part of a veteran band and be a part of IBMA vocal group of the year in 2006 and 2007.

The video for Sadie’s Got Her New Dress On was a number one video on CMT and was atop the bluegrass charts for six months. And there are many other things that I feel were really groundbreaking. The upcoming DL&Q recording that I am a part of will be out in the spring, and I feel it’s got some of the best material that I’ve heard in awhile.

I was also a mainstay through a lot of changes, that at times were very difficult. When you have seven new people go through a band in 3 years, it’s tough sometimes.

I will make a release in the upcoming weeks about my future plans.

It turns out that the info we got from Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver last week about Alan Johnson returning to the band was only half right.

Big Al is indeed taking over the fiddle spot from Brandon Godman, but only on an interim basis until a new full-time fiddler is hired. He is still working for the US Postal Service and is unable to handle Doyle’s heavy touring schedule.

Doyle is auditioning fiddlers now, and we’ll report back when a new one is announced.

Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver are hard at it in the studio, finishing up their next release for Rounder Records at the Crossroads Music studio in Arden. NC. Current plans are to wrap the project this month with an eye on a March 2009 street date.

This one will be a primarily secular project, but Doyle expects there will be several Gospel numbers included as well.

One song sure to be on this next CD is Monroe’s Mandolin, the song that Doyle and the boys performed during the 2008 IBMA Awards Show in Nashville.

We’ll post more details as we get them.

Doyle Lawson in in a celebratory mood today. Help Is On The Way, the title track from his latest Gospel bluegrass release, has the #1 spot on the Top 80 Radio Airplay chart published in the September 2008 issue of Singing News magazine.

Not only is it Doyle’s first #1 in Singing News, but he believes that it is also the first time a bluegrass song has reached the pinnacle of this highly respected chart.

The magazine, billed as “The Voice Of Southern Gospel Music,” has published monthly for almost 40 years.

Congratulations to Doyle - and to bluegrass music - for this achievement.

Richard Thompson offers another of his occasional reviews of recent Gospel bluegrass releases.

Doyle Lawson continues the pattern of releasing alternately a secular CD and then a Gospel album. Help Is On The Way is the latest collection of sacred songs and, if you will forgive the phrase, it’s a baptism of fire for the latest edition of Quicksilver.

This is the first set of Quicksilver recordings that features Alan Johnson (fiddles and bass vocals), Joey Cox (banjo and rhythm guitar), Carl White (bass, piano and vocals) and Josh Swift (Dobro ®, percussion and harmony vocals). Lawson (mandolin and vocals) and Darren Beachley (guitar and vocals) are the only individuals to feature on earlier Doyle Lawson recordings.

It does not matter though as the standard of performance, the choice of songs and the arrangements are just what we have come to expect from Lawson, who made his mark as a master arranger when with the Country Gentlemen.

What is immediately apparent with this collection of 14 songs is the positive feel to the music and the messages expounded. The opening song, I Know, I Know, with lead sung by Beachley, sets the tone and there isn’t any wavering from the conviction and the joyous nature of the songs and the performances that follow.

Unless my ears deceive me, Beachley and Lawson share the lead vocal duties on 12 numbers and neither falters and the choices as to who sings what is just right. Lawson’s lead on the Odell McLeod ‘oldie’ When The Hand Of God Comes Down and the ensuing The Black Sheep Returned To The Fold illustrate this point.

The swinging Land Of The Dying is yet another powerhouse performance while the title track, sung by the ebullient bass player Carl White, I Won’t Have To Worry Anymore, and Press On O Pilgrim are only slightly less so. Characteristic of these latter two songs is the excellent control of Beachley’s lead vocals. Alan Johnson is to be commended for the excellent bottom end to the up-tempo quartet One Of These Days and the Lawson-led a cappella number He Made It All Right.

Doyle reads the recitation on Keep Your Eyes On Jesus, while other voices harmonize at the beginning and end of this Louvin Brothers’ classic.

Really, there isn’t any weakness that I can find in this collection. The songs are well chosen, coming from the pens of Luther G Presley, the Easter brothers, Dee Gaskin, Fred Rose and newcomers Michael E Read, Randy Swift, Rob Mills and Nancy Carol White as they do.

There is a very full sound throughout, with the harmonies constantly hitting the spot and instrumental arrangements, particularly the use of Dobro ®, being very effective.

Help Is On The Way is an uplifting and joyous way of bringing the Gospel to the masses. The more I listen to it the more that I think that it is the natural successor to Lawson’s landmark Gospel collection, Rock My Soul.

UPDATE 2:10 p.m.  Regarding I Won’t Have To Worry Anymore and Press On O Pilgrim…

We failed to note that these cuts were recorded with Jamie Dailey, Terry Baucom and Mike Hartgrove shortly before they left Quicksilver. Doyle has since apologized for failing to list them in the credits, which he overlooked when the CD was being prepared for release.

Y’all Wire, a large country music video web site, has announced their Top 8 Bluegrass Videos for 2008 to date.

The video ratings are based on the site’s Multivariate Audience Meter, which measures a video’s popularity of “audience engagement.” In addition to online views, this measure includes how often a video is selected as a favorite, forwarded to others, embedded elsewhere, tagged, receives comments and is rated by Y’all Wire users.

Here’s how this measurement system rates bluegrass videos for 2008:

1. Rhonda Vincent, Heartbreaker’s Alibi
2. Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Sadie’s Got Her New Dress On
3. The Grascals, Me and John and Paul
4. The Gibson Brothers, I Got A Woman
5. Sam Bush, The Rivers Gonna Run
6. Lori Willcuts, Black Eyed Susans
7. Ryan Shupe and The Rubberband, Banjo Boy
8. Yonder Mountain String Band, Classic Situation

Y’all Wire also publishes a weekly list of the top 7 bluegrass videos, and you can browse all of them on their site.

Artists or labels who would like to see their videos appear at YallWire.com can register online.

We just received a note from Josh Swift, resonator guitarist with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.

He sent along a mini-travelogue report which will give Doyle’s many fans a look inside a road trip with Quicksilver.

Josh’s tale starts earlier this month…

“We departed Bristol Tennessee on June 5th where we performed in Cullman, AL, then onto Glen Saint Mary, FL on the 6th. We then headed west towards California making a stop in Foley, AL to hit Lamberts Café, home of the thrown rolls - and it became apparent that some of the members can’t catch. Our new fiddler Brandon Godman got initiated into the DL&Q birthday club.

Next stop was San Antonio to visit the Alamo. Richard, our bus driver, decided he wanted a sombrero. Then, it was onto El Paso, TX where Doyle added to his ‘way cool’ boot collection. We spent the day boot shopping.

Along with Doyle, Darren Beachley also added to his colorful boot collection and Brandon Godman started his own.

After drooling over the cool boots, we headed toward the Grand Canyon for a sundown stop at one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Nature was in full force as Key Chang was holding the door of the bus open for Darren Beachley to get a picture of a coyote and as it began to run towards the bus, Key, in a very panicked voice, said ‘Hurry up man - I am shuttin’ this door.’

The next stop was Williams, AZ on historic Route 66. A little local town shopping and doing laundry were in order that day. Then it was on to Victorville, CA for the Huck Finn Jubilee.

We got into town a little early and Carl needed a haircut. Let’s just say he wasn’t too thrilled with the local Barber Shop. We arrived at the show, where DL&Q soon played to a great crowd and even met Mark Twain (well almost).

Next stop was the 33rd annual California Bluegrass Association’s Father‚s Day Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley. DL&Q closed the show on Saturday night and did a 11am gospel show then a afternoon bluegrass set on Sunday. DL&Q seemed to be a fan favorite at both events and as Doyle says ‘We Love the fans in California and wish we would get out here more often.’

We left Grass Valley last night and are headed toward Nashville, where we will appear on the Grand Ole Opry on Friday June 20th. After playing the Opry, we will be headed toward a Saturday Evening Show in Cherokee, NC that will conclude our 17 Day Coast to Coast tour with DLQ!!!”

You can catch Doyle and the guys on the Friday Grand Ole Opry between 9:30-10:00 p.m. (EDT) on the radio in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville), and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

Young fiddler Brandon Godman has been announced as the newest member of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, replacing veteran sideman Alan Johnson who is taking work outside of music.

Brandon has been busy this past few years working with Karl Shiflett, Wildfire and until now, with NewFound Road. His first show with Doyle will be this weekend (6/6) in Cullman, AL.

On his MySpace blog, Brandon shared his reaction upon learning that he had the job.

“Words cannot describe how excited I am about taking this gig.  It is truly the type of gig that every musician strives to get at some point in their career.  I’ve been blessed.”