Just a quick update to say there is a ton of great bluegrass music being played this year. I saw three bands last night, all excellent.

First, John and I were able to catch a Mountain Heart show. The band performed some of their more requested tunes, but also unveiled some new music they’re working up. Several of the songs were performed for the first time last night. The material is great and the band sounds powerful. I really enjoyed the show. I taped part of the show and we talked to a couple of the band members afterward, with the camera running, so be on the lookout for a video later today.

Next we caught Adam Steffey’s official showcase. Adam has long been one of my favorites, and last night proved why. There’s just something cool about that “low lonesome sound” as Adam said, “High lonesome is sooooo 2007!”

Since Adam was the last of the official, main stage showcases, I headed downstairs for some “after hours” fun.

I caught Buddy Merriam’s show. Celebrating his 30th year of performing bluegrass music, there is no finer Monroe style mandolin player out there. And Buddy is just one of my favorite people. It doesn’t hurt that he’s got Ernie Sykes Jr. playing bass and singing with him. What a voice!

I stayed put after Buddy was finished and had the pleasure of hearing Frank Solivan II and his band Dirty Kitchen. Frank is a great musician and singer, and he’s surrounded himself with excellent musicians and singers. I was especially impressed with their trio vocals. They had the parts worked out and sounded good. Performing some traditional material as well as many originals, they’ve got a finely tuned sound that obviously appealed to the crowed who gathered to hear them.

After that, I visited with a few friends, picked up a couple pieces of news you’ll be reading about in the coming days, and then headed to bed. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera with me, so no pictures.

Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen are offering a free download for anyone who is, or will sign up as their fan at ReverbNation.

The song is Scorchin’ The Gravy from Frank’s most recent CD, Selfish Tears. Frank tells us that the song is a favorite of our buddy Wichita Rutherford, who features it regularly during his weekly show on Sirius-XM Bluegrass Junction.

You can hear the track here…

…and get your free download here.

Dirty Kitchen includes Mike Munford on banjo, Lincoln Meyers on guitar, Stefan Custodi on bass and Solivan on mandolin and vocals.

I commented a few weeks back on the volume of new CDs scheduled for release this Spring. What I didn’t mention at the time is how many are from female artists.

Of course, we’ve had talented women involved in bluegrass since the early days, but not to the extent we enjoy them today. In the next few months we’ll see new releases from Rhonda Vincent, Dale Ann Bradley, Alecia Nugent and newcomer Sarah Jaroz. We’ll be doing a piece soon on the new Bearfoot CD, but first we want to highlight a talented young singer from California who has a bright future in bluegrass music.

Patuxent Music has released Look For Me, the debut recording from Angelica Grim, which features her strong and distinctive voice on a set of 12 songs, supported by an all-star backing band. The maturity and confidence you hear in her singing might surprise you, until you learn a bit more about her background.

At age 19, Angelica has been singing bluegrass for as long as she can remember. She had the good fortune to be born into a musical family, and to find encouragement and support from bluegrass organizations where she grew up.

“My dad was a country musician so he taught me to sing as soon as I could talk. He used to say ‘Sing so the neighbors can hear you!’

In 1993 my family won tickets to the Grass Valley Fathers Day festival, and we’ve gone every year since. My first time onstage was 1995 with the Kids On Bluegrass program at Grass Valley. I participated in that for 12 years. I sang as a hobby mostly until I was about 13, then picked up the guitar to back myself up when I sang.

One year at Grass Valley I went to a vocal workshop that Rhonda Vincent was teaching and she asked for a volunteer to help demonstrate harmony. I volunteered, and after the workshop she asked if I would like to sing harmony on a song for her evening set. I of course said yes, and that week I decided that I wanted to pursue music professionally.

I got involved in the California Bluegrass Association when I was about 14. I started going to board meetings and things and eventually they appointed me as their Teen Ambassador. I went to festivals and told teens about the CBA and about bluegrass. I also emceed at Grass Valley and at SuperGrass. A couple years later they appointed me to the Talent Advisory Group for the Grass Valley festival.”

Angelica has moved away from California, and is nominally located near Buffalo, NY, though she spends almost all her life on the road. She travels with The Doerfels – she and TJ Doerfel are man and wife – and is often featured as a guest vocalist on their shows. They expect to relocate soon to Branson, MO. (more…)

We heard yesterday from Kenny Ray Horton, guitarist and lead vocalist with the US Navy’s Country Current, who is about to release a new solo project.

A Canary’s Song, which features 7 songs of Horton’s amidst the 11 tracks, will hit on March 11. In addition to Kenny on guitar and vocals, the CD is anchored by Keith Arneson on banjo, Pat White on fiddle and mandolin, Mike Auldridge on resonator guitar and Jeremy Middleton on bass. Darren Beachley and Courtney Williams add harmony vocals.

Kenny stepped in last year to fill the shoes of Wayne Taylor when he retired from the US Navy, and tells us that it was a circuitous path from his childhood home in southern Missouri to Washington, DC to take the spot with Country Current.

As a boy, he was raised on bluegrass and country music, and spent many hours with one of his dad’s best friends, Bob Brumley, son of Albert E. Brumley. The elder Brumley is among the most prolific writers of country Gospel songs, including the classic I’ll Fly Away.

Horton knew from an early age that music was where he wanted to earn his living, and eventually made the trek to Music City where he found some success.

“I made my way to Nashville where I was a staff writer for publishing houses, one of which was Oh Boy Records, John Prine’s label. They picked me up as a full-time staff writer and I ended up co-writing the song A Soldier’s King with John Barlow Jarvis for Kenny Rogers’ Christmas album entitled The Gift.”

After some time singing demos and background vocals in Nashville, he made the decision to look for more secure income, and joined the Navy as an electronics tech.

“Then when I found out that they had bands that did something other than march as a parade band, I switched over and started fronting Navy Band Horizon in Chicago, IL. I spent 5 years there, then moved to Pearl Harbor, HI for two years and finally to Memphis, TN.

All this while I had my eye on this position and kept an ear to the ground on what Wayne Taylor was doing. The group had such a name, not only in the Navy, but in the bluegrass world that it was hard not to pay attention to them.” (more…)