This year marks the third annual Americana Music Festival at Peaceful Bend. The festival takes place May 15-18 in Steelville, MO. It’s going to be flatpick central for four days.

The festival takes place on the grounds of the Peaceful Bend Vineyard in Steelville, MO. The vineyard sits on seventy acres above the Upper Meramec River about ninety minutes south west of St. Louis on Highway T. There will be camping available at the vineyard limited to advance reservation with other lodging available nearby.

The festival is more than just performances. It consists of workshops and private lessons during the day, followed by a concert each evening. Most of the performances will be held in the wine garden and will be limited to 200 seats. Thursday evening however will be special. National Flatpicking Champions Mark Cosgrove, Robin Kessinger, and Robert Shafer will perform in the wine cellar Thursday evening. Seating is limited to 100 in the cellar. I’m told the acoustics are fantastic in there, and I certainly hope so. I’ll be on hand that evening to record the performance for a future DVD release from Flatpicking Guitar Magazine and SimpleFolk Productions. The title of the DVD will be Pickin at the Peaceful Bend. This will be the fifth in a series of flatpicking concert DVDs I’ve produced for them. So come out and be part of the audience for this live production.

After Thursday’s taping, the rest of the weekend looks pretty spectacular as well.

Performers include

Friday: The Grass Pack, David Grier and Wyatt Rice.

Saturday: Will Maring and Robert Bowlin, Bryan Sutton and Russ Barenberg.

Sunday: Josh Williams, The Chapmans, Plus an All-Star-Jam!

For more information and registration details, visit SimpleFolkProductions.com.

Our good friend Brad Davis is one of those super fast flatpickers that leaves you wondering, “How does he do that?” Well, Brad wrote in to share one of his secrets (besides insane talent, and lots of practice). The secret is coffee.

Brad is an avid coffee drinker. I’ve been in studio sessions with him that lasted 12 hours or more, and I’ve seen him drink a lot of coffee. Somewhere around a year ago, Brad showed up with a new coffee he insisted I had to try. The brand was Coffee Fool. I had never heard of them before, but Brad swore by the stuff.

Brad went on to write a theme song for company, just because he loved the coffee so much. You can hear that song by visiting CoffeeFool.com and clicking the play button in the lower left.

Just a couple months ago at the January NAMM show, Brad teamed up with Flapicking Guitar Magazine editor Dan Miller, to convince the guys at Coffee Fool that bluegrass flatpickers were in need of a special brew to give them the energy boost necessary to keep up with banjo and fiddle players during late night jam sessions. The company responded by creating a special coffee blend just for flatpickers. It’s called Flatpicker Fuel.

Pick the high note and low note at the same time with our post-roast blend of high energy Breakfast Brew, rich Fool’s House Italian and the subtle sweetness of pure Extra Fancy Hawaiian Kona. Just the right combo to keep you jammin’ through the day… or night!

CoffeeFool.com is a great supporter of music and musicians. They are sponsoring some of Brad Davis’ workshops and performances and are also co-sponsoring some live music events with Flatpicking Guitar Magazine. Dan Miller had this to say about working with Coffee Fool.

When Flatpicking Guitar Magazine needed a co-sponsor to help with the costs of promoting and hosting an Infamous Stringdusters show in California, with opening act Keith Little and Jim Nunally, Coffeefool.com didn’t hesitate to jump on board and get involved. They are good folks who love supporting live music.

So if you’re a flatpicker in need of a speed boost, give Flatpicker Fuel a try.

Flatpicking Guitar Records has two new CD releases which you may want to consider when contemplating gifts for your favorite flatpicker - or flatpicking fan.

Plaidgrass is a band whose foundation concept is a mixture of Celtic music instrumentation with a bluegrass sensibility. The group is fronted by the husband/wife team of fiddler Gretchen Priest and guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Tim May. They are joined by Tom Saffell on 8-string banjo, Al Goll on resonator guitar, Brian Christianson on mandolin and fiddle, and Dan Miller on bass.

You can find audio samples on the band’s MySpace page, and several video clips on YouTube.

Also new from FGR is Robert Bowlin’s Six String Soliloquy, a set of solo acoustic guitar pieces primarily written by the artist.

Bluegrass historians remember Bowlin as a fiddler, having the distinction of being the last to work as a member of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys. Early reaction to his new CD suggests that his lasting mark will come instead as a flatpicker, with the wide range of emotions and his virtuosity as a guitarist being widely heralded.

You can see the full track listing on the Flatpicking Guitar site, and hear several audio samples on Robert’s MySpace page.

Flatpicking Guitar Magazine has released their latest concert DVD, following the familiar theme of grouping popular flatpickers they have set with previous releases.

Guitarmageddon, co-produced with SimpleFolk Productions, showcases three young flatpicking firebrands who have been making their presence felt in bluegrass this past few years. Chris Eldridge, Andy Falco and Josh Williams are featured in this one hour DVD performing live at Nashville’s storied Station Inn in a variety of settings.

The three each offer solo arrangements, are paired as duos, pick as a trio, and are joined by Cody Kilby on banjo and Mike Bub on bass for some rockin’ bluegrass numbers. Each of the three guitarists are interviewed, as is J.T. Gray, current owner of the Station Inn.

A total of 15 songs are included, among them favorites like Cherokee Shuffle, East Tennessee Blues, Jesse James, Nine Pound Hammer, and Salt Creek.

There doesn’t seem to be a video sample up online yet, but they may be posted soon on Flatpicking Guitar’s YouTube channel.

You can find more details in the Flatpicking Guitar online store.

The latest DVD release from Flatpicking Guitar is Volume 4 in Brad Davis’ Flatpick Jam series. Like the three that preceded it, this DVD is a play-along video where Brad demonstrates flatpicking solos for 11 tunes, and then plays each one with bass and mandolin accompaniment at four different speeds.

For each tune, at each speed, Brad plays through the solo and then provides a rhythm guitar accompaniment for you to pick the lead. The idea is to allow you to play the solos slowly as you first learn them, with a solid rhythm guitar behind you to keep time.

Once you graduate from the slow version, Brad alternates between soloing and back up twice through so that you can get a good rhythm workout yourself. For more experienced pickers, the fastest version is at a typical performance speed, which could be useful for both warm-up and rhythm work.

The tunes are all familiar fiddle tunes and jam favorites like John Henry, Leather Britches and Home Sweet Home. You can see the full list of tunes on the Flatpick Jam Volume 4 site.

You can also get a taste of the format on this DVD by checking out the free lesson offered in October by Flatpicking Guitar, which offers the tab and MP3 audio for Brad’s version of Crazy Creek from this new DVD.

Now in it’s 11th year, Flatpicking Guitar Magazine has just released a series of CD-ROM compilations containing articles and tablatures from the Best of the First Ten Years of the magazine.

The series consists of 4 discs, each pulling articles on a specific topic from back issues of the magazine published between November/December 1996 (Volume 1, Number 1) and September/October 2006 (Volume 10, Number 6). The content on the discs is presented in PDF format with an index file containing a table of contents with links to each individual article or tab.

The four discs in the series are:

1. Cover Story Articles: 60 cover story articles with tablatures
2. Rhythm Articles: 90 rhythm guitar articles and 29 interviews with rhythm guitar players
3. Guitar Builder Articles: 50 builder interviews, 14 reviews, 11 guitar building articles
4. Editor’s Song Picks: 147 song transcriptions

The latest issue of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine is now mailing to subscribers. This issue is Volume 11, Number 4 - May/June 2007. The cover story this time around is The Pioneers of Flatpicking. The pioneers of bluegrass guitar covered in this issue are (in no particular order):

• Edd Mayfield
• Maybelle Carter
• Riley Pucket
• George Shuffler
• Hank Snow
• Don Reno
• Delmore Brothers
• Jimmie Rodges
• Doc Addington

Yes, the folks at FGM are aware that not all these players used a flatpick.

Although not all of these early performers used a flatpick, they all certainly had a great influence on those of us who flatpick today.

The usual columnists are all on board providing lessons and tabs of tunes played by these pioneers. The entire issue is a great lesson in the history of bluegrass and flatpicking guitar.

Here’s a link to the subscription info.

This new DVD from Flatpicking Guitar features Blue Highway guitarist Tim Stafford is a comprehensive overview of critical techniques for acoustic, steel string guitar. The DVD release is a re-edited and remastered version of the original VHS release, which was largely overlooked in that now nearly obsolete format.

Acoustic Guitar Fundamentals is a video presentation of Tim’s treatise on the Five T’s - Tuning, Timing, Tone, Technique, and Taste. These are the elements that separate the best from the rest, and allow even a novice or amateur player to develop a sense of authority over the instrument and the music they play.

Each of the “T’s” is covered in detail, with Tim explaining the concepts and then offering practical examples of how to incorporate a study of them into your practice routine. The material is very well organized and explained clearly with topic reviews after each section.

Tim’s mastery of the guitar and the flatpicking style is unchallenged - both as a soloist and a member of the rhythm section. His advice for other pickers is as valuable as his contributions to the music as a performer.

Find more details and order online from Flatpicking Guitar’s Mercantile.

The March/April issue of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine is on the newsstands and in the mail. many subscribers may already have received their copy. The cover feature is on St. Louis flatpicker and instructor, Bull Harman. Other articles this month include a guest contribution from Beppe Gambetta and a piece on the bluegrass music course offerings at Dennison College in Granville, OH.

They also note the release of a best of compilation of Mark Cosgrove’s recordings on their Flatpicking Guitar Records label. The CD is entitled, Take Yer Medicine - Best Of Collection, and contains 18 tracks taken from his earlier releases.

The folks at Flatpicking Guitar have also created a YouTube channel where web viewers can see snippets from their instructional DVDs and live performances from prominent guitarists associated with the magazine.

This morning I’m on my way to Nashville for the concert DVD shoot I told you about a while back. This show features Josh Williams, Chris Eldridge, and Andy Falco. A few special guests are going to help the guys out as well, including Cody Kilby, and Mike Bub.

If you are in Nashville today be sure to stop by the Station Inn at 7pm or 9pm to catch one of the sets. I you can’t make to the show, you’ll be able to buy the DVD from Flatpicking Guitar Magazine here in a month or two.

Flatpicker Mo Canada has a new CD, released appropriately enough on Flatpicking Guitar Magazine’s label. Entitled Grassoline, it features 12 instrumentals that highlight Canada’s celebrated guitar playing, with assistance from some of the most skilled pickers in bluegrass. Tony Rice, Randy Kohrs, Phil Leadbetter and Scott Vestal contribute, along with Darrell Webb, Ed Canada, Raymond McClain and Wyatt Rice, who engineered and produced the project

Canada, 25 years old, studied in the bluegrass music program at East Tennessee State University. He is also joined on Grassoline by Raymond McClain, director of the prgram at ETSU, and former bandmates there, JP Mathes and Taro Inoue.

Mo’s web site contains a powerful endorsement from the reigning IBMA Guitar Player of the Year, Bryan Sutton:

“What a great recording. Mo Canada shines in this collection of mainly new tunes. He really does a great job showcasing his personality as a guitarist here. To me, one of the hallmarks of a great bluegrass instrumentalist is playing with drive without overpowering the sound of the band as a whole. Mo certainly doesn’t let me down. I’m impressed with his wonderfully mature sense of melody and groove. If this weren’t enough, Mo’s got one of the best tones I’ve heard in a long time. Anyone interested in Bluegrass guitar should give this recording a serious listen.”

There are no audio samples up on the FGM Records site, but one track plays on Mo’s site, which also contains a nice gallery of photos taken during the Grassoline recording sessions.

Here is one more gallery of photos from Saturday at IBMA. I took these in the exhibit hall.

Cherryholmes	Jim Van Cleve	Casey Henry	Steve Huber
Megan Lynch	Reno and Rigsby	Sizemore and Lawless	Dan Miller
Murphy Henry	Tony Williams	Fank Solivan II	Joey Cox

The folks at Flatpicking Guitar Magazine have posted a nice photo gallery from the 35th Annual National Flatpicking Guitar Championship, recently concluded in Winfield, KS. They have three pages of photos, taken during the competition itself, and from the warm-up area.

They also have a brief description of the contest, and the winners in the flatpicking competition - like top prize winner Matt Arcara, shown above.
The newest of FGM’s free monthly lessons is also posted on their site, Tim’s may’s arrangement of Bill Cheathum as played on his CD, Find My Way Back.

The July/August issue of FGM is out, with Tyler Grant on the cover. We made mention of his new CD, In The Light, when it was released last month. Tyler discusses how he made the switch to playing bluegrass and acoustic music after starting with rock and classical guitar, and how he has searched for a voice of his own after a careful study of the greats of flatpicking.

Also featured in this issue are Yiannis Gougourelas, described as the only bluegrass flatpicker in his native Greece, with a new CD, Flapicking Guitar Instrumentals, to his credit. His profile describes how he learned and mastered the style without ever visiting the United States.

Regular columnist Dave McCarty describes the Selmer-style arch top guitars made by Michael Collins and Dan Huckabee’s Beginner’s Page walks new pickers through a simple solo for the banjo classic, Earl’s Breakdown.

You can see a complete list of the contents of the current issue on the Flatpicking Guitar web site.

When Dan Miller sent along those Merlefest photos earlier this week, he also passed along some info on the current issue of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine, of which he is editor and publisher. Dan said that this issue has been mailed and should be in the hands of most subscribers, and available on newsstands and in music stores as well.

Here is Dan’s overview of the current issue:

The May/June issue of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine (Volume 10, Number 4) features Chris Eldridge of the Stringdusters. Chris is the son of banjo legend and Seldom Scene founding member Ben Eldridge. In addition to playing with the Stringdusters Chris is also currently working with Chris Thile on Thile’s next CD. Chris recorded his arrangement of Stoney Creek for this issue’s audio companion and a transcription of Chris’ solo appears in the magazine.

In addition to Chris Eldridge, the May/June issue features Keith Yoder, a music store owner and multi-instrumentalist from Iowa, and a lengthy interview with Bryan Sutton about his new CD Not Too Far From the Tree. Two of Bryan’s solos from Carroll County Blues are also transcribed in the magazine. Our guitar builder feature highlights Kentucky builder Neil Kendrick and our regular cast of talented columnists (which includes Brad Davis, Joe Carr, Orrin Star, Harold Streeter, Adam Granger, John McGann, Bill Bay, Steve Kaufman, Dan Huckabee, John Carlini, Chris Jones, Kathy Barwick, Mike Maddux, and Dix Bruce) also contribute audio and tablature to this new issue.

Find out more about the magazine on their web site.

The March/April 2006 issue of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine includes an extensive cover story on Ron Block, who serves as both banjoist and guitarist with Alison Krauss & Union Station. The companion audio CD has two tunes that Ron recorded specifically for this issue, and transcriptions of Ron’s solos appear in the magazine.

In the course of the article, Block shares his thoughts and ideas on practice habits, timing, tone, improvisation, and song arrangement. Regarding improvisation:

“Give yourself the freedom to make mistakes. I went through a phase with the band where I would be mad at myself all night if I made a few mistakes during a show. Years later I realized that the fear of making mistakes causes more of them. If you are always afraid of blowing it, you won”t play as freely; you won”t be yourself. Hammering on yourself will do more damage than good; you”ve got to give yourself permission to blow it, and that, to some degree, involves ceasing to take your self-worth and security from music. Get it plugged into the source that doesn”t change. The internal changes I”ve gone through in the past ten years, which I”ve written about on my CD Faraway Land and on my website, have had the side-effect of making me a better player.”

Also featured in this issue are Canadian pickers J.P. Cormier and Marc Roy, an article about McKnight Guitars, and a store visit at Mass Street Music. As always there is plenty of great technique and tab from the regular cast of columnists, plus reviews and news of interest to flatpickers.

Find out more about Flatpicking Guitar Magazine on their web site.

Brad Davis’ name should be familiar to regular readers of The Bluegrass Blog. He has served as one of our Guest Contributors, and we have posted a number of times about his various exploits as a performer, guitar instructor, songwriter and sideman.

The folks at Flatpicking Guitar Magazine have just released a new book/DVD/CD package which features Brad as instructor. Flatpicking The Blues is designed to both introduce the form and vocabulary of traditional 12 bar blues to flatpickers, and also show them how to incorporate these techniques into bluegrass and fiddle style flatpick guitar. Brad’s goal was to give experienced flatpickers enough of a feel for the blues to enable them to comfortably jam in that setting, and to show guitarists of any stylistic bent how to add a blues influence to their playing.

The package contains an 88 page book, with all the exercises and song examples from the DVD lesson shown in both tab and standard notation, plus a play-along audio CD with the various tunes from the video. To supplement the course material in the book and on the disks, Brad and Flatpicking Guitar Magazine have launched a new web site to provide ongoing and continuing areas of study for anyone wanting to explore blues guitar playing from a flatpicker’s perspective.

Brad Davis spoke with Bill Bay (of Mel Bay Publications) at the recent NAMM show and he told Brad that this was the most comprehensive and well organized instructional product he had ever seen. According to Bill:

“This is a great approach to teaching the blues to guitar players with a different background. It also helps them incorporate the blues accents into the other styles they play.”

Brad is excited about this course, and encourages everyone to make use of the additional materials provided on the supporting website.

Dan Miller of Flatpicking Guitar is offering a discounted price on Flatpicking The Blues for all orders received prior to February 1. More details and ordering info can be found on their web site.