There are two special bluegrass radio shows on Friday morning (10/24) that will be streamed live online. Unfortunately, their air times coincide, so you’ll have to choose your own best option.

First up at 10:15 a.m., Jeanette Williams will join Carol Beaugard on WFDU to talk about her new CD, Thank You For Caring, and her participation in the third release from the Daughters Of Bluegrass, Bluegrass Bouquet, a celebration of female bluegrass artists and musicians. Music from these recordings will be featured as well.

Then at 11:00 a.m., Carol will welcome the ear-shattering instrumental duo Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile into the WFDU studio. The two have been out in support of their CD, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile, a CD/DVD combo project of mandolin/bass duets, ahead of their final show at Carnegie Hall next week.

Carol is a huge Thile fan so she’s sure to talk about his meteoric career at length, in addition to his current work with Meyer. Expect lots of music early in the show and in the 11:00 hour from the Meyer/Thile album, plus Nickel Creek, the Punch Brothers and Chris’ various solo CDs.

Her show, Lonesome Pine RFD, is broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to noon (EDT) on 89.1 FM in the NYC area, and streamed live online at WFDU.fm.

Also at 11:00 a.m., there will be live music over at WAMU’s Bluegrass Country.

Claire Lynch will be in the studio with host Lee Michael Demsey to spread the word about her show at The Birchmere Friday night. Guitarist Jim Hurst and bass player Mark Schatz will accompany Claire for an impromptu set in WAMU’s Studio 3. They will also talk about what The Claire Lynch Band is up to for the rest of 2008 and beyond, and whatever else Lee Michael might come up with.

You can catch their 24/7 online bluegrass feed at www.bluegrasscountry.org.

All in all, a good morning to tune in online.

Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer were the sole guests on Monday’s (10/20) Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour, with the full 60 minutes dedicated to the music of their recent CD/DVD project, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile. Host Michael Jonathan also conducts brief interviews with both artists.

Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile features both an audio CD with 12 new compositions the duo wrote for this project, and a 50 minute DVD with rehearsals, performances and behind-the-scenes conversations. All the tunes are performed as duets on mandolin and upright bass.

Video in the Windows Media format can be found on the Woodsongs site.

Nonesuch is set to release a CD/DVD combo project from Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile, titled Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile.

The CD includes 12 new instrumental compositions the two have c0-written, performed with Thile on mandolin and Meyer on bass.

The companion DVD features 50 minute’s worth of live performances, rehearsals and conversation between these two stellar virtuosos, who both separately and together have been responsible for some dramatic rethinking about the capabilities of their respective instruments.

The release date is September 23, and pre-ordering is enabled on the Nonesuch web site, where you can also hear the audio for one full track.

Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer will spend two weeks touring together in mid-January, 2007. The tour will take them primarily through the southern and central parts of the US, from 1/13-1/28.

Thile has long been known as a startlingly gifted young mandolinist, and Meyer has won the respect and admiration of critics and musicians in both the classical and new acoustic fields as a bassist with few peers. They will perform in a duet format, almost surely featuring a free form, improvisational set.

Look for the tour dates on Chris’ MySpace page.

This post is a contribution from Casey Henry, who writes from Nashville. It was initially posted in The B.

This week’s issue of the The Nashville Scene is the annual Best Of Nashville issue. They scour the city looking for the best of everything, and I mean everything. Our very own Station Inn garners recognition as “Best Urban-Development Holdout.”

It is praised for holding its own against the upscale establishments going up around it, and they point out that the Station just leases the building it is in so, theoretically if the owner decides not to renew the lease, that could be it for our favorite Nashville landmark. The Time Jumpers, who play at the Station every Monday night earned “Best Monday Night Music” (I can’t find that one on their webpage just at the moment) and Edgar Meyer rated “Best Classical Musician.”

I just recently found an article about a ballet production that took place in the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts in Mountain View, CA. Once segment of the ballet featured a performance with bass player Edgar Meyer.

This from InsideBayArea.com:

The key segment of the evening was Smuins’ 2005 effort “Bluegrass/Slyde,” set to the music of famed string bassist Edgar Meyer. One wonders which to admire the most: the dancing or the athletic displays of the dancers. In this piece, Smuin indulged himself heavily in his tendency to weave in sudden, unexpected and very funny movements for the dancers.

The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall is offering a fabulous opportunity for exceptional young bowed and fretted string musicians as a part of their Professional Training Workshops series. Entitled The Edgar Meyer Workshop: Porous Borders of Music, the workshop will run from May 14-21, 2006 and tuition, lodging and travel expenses will be provided at no cost to 15 players between the ages of 18-30. Applications will be accepted for violin, viola, cello, bass, guitar, mandolin, banjo, and Dobro.

The workshop is designed to help serious players bridge the gaps between western classical and folk music genres, and will involve study of both composed and improvised music. Led by Meyer, one of the most celebrated double bassists of his generation, the workshops will also feature coaching from Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Mike Marshall and Fred Sherry.

Non-scholarship students are welcome to attend for a modest audit fee, and scholarship applicants under the age of 18 will be considered, but prior approval of the Weill Institute is required for younger applicants. The week will conclude with a concert in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall.

More details, including a downloadable application form and brochure, can be found on the Weill Music Institute’s Professional Training Workshops web site. The application deadline is January 17, 2006.