The July 26 edition of The Tennessean, Nashville’s hometown paper, has a story sure to be of interest to the many fans of Dave Akeman, a.k.a. Stringbean, one of the most beloved entertainers in the history of traditional string music.

He was senselessly murdered on Nov. 10, 1973 along with his wife, Estelle, when they returned from a Grand Ole Opry show to find intruders lying in wait for them in their home. The bodies were discovered by close friend and fellow Opry star, Grandpa Jones.

John A. Brown and his cousin, the late Doug Marvin Brown, were convicted of their murders and sentenced to 198 years in prison, but it seems Brown may be on his way home from prison in the near future.

The piece in The Tenessean by Kate Howard tells the tale…

As country music changed and Nashville generations passed, the fame of slain Hee Haw star Dave “Stringbean” Akeman faded.

This week, the state parole board heard all the reasons why the man who shot Akeman and his wife deserves a second chance, 34 years later. About a half-dozen spoke on behalf of convicted killer John A. Brown.

But the killer’s name didn’t ring a bell with anyone in the district attorney’s office when the possibility of Brown’s freedom came up. Most of the loved ones who spoke up in the past, Opry legends Roy Acuff and Porter Wagoner among them, have passed on. They had no children. And the friends who remain were never told a hearing was coming.

So, nobody stood to talk about the lasting impact of the day an unassuming country star named Stringbean was killed for his money, and his wife was silenced with a bullet while she begged for her life.

According to Howard, there are two parole board members who have yet to vote on this matter, and Brown will be freed should they vote in favor. You can read the full piece on the Tennessean site.

Here is a YouTube clip of String (as he was known to his many friends) appearing on television in 1971 on the Del Reeves Country Carnival show.

Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper will appear on tonight’s (7/25) Grand Ole Opry broadcast, surely sporting tunes from their upcoming Rounder CD, Leavin’ Town, due for release on July 29.

They are scheduled during the 9:00-9:30 p.m. segment (EDT).

Michael will also appear this morning with Katy Daley on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country online at 9:45 a.m. to talk about the new CD.

Catch tonight’s Friday Opry over the air at WSM 650 AM, broadcasting from Nashville, on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville), or via live streaming at wsmonline.com.

Randy Kohrs sent along a few photos from his appearance on The Grand Ole Opry last weekend.

Joining him were the members of The Randy Kohrs Band, Ashley Brown on fiddle and vocals, Mike Sumner on banjo, Elio Giordano on bass, Chris Wood on drums, with Jody Hughes filling in on guitar for the Friday show, and Josh Williams for Saturday’s.

Ashley also sent along this report about the impression Randy’s new signature model Amistar resonator guitar made on the Opry stage.

“For our set in the second show last Saturday at the Opry, we started with If All Those Trains Were Still Around (I’d be an ol’ hobo), which went over great. Randy did a very respectful intro to the song, saying we were doing it in the spirit of Mr. Acuff and his love for train songs.

For the second song, we did She Ain’t Comin’ Back. Randy had to switch to his signature Amistar metal body tri-cone guitar, and just as he was about to say something into the mic, the strap came off the pin and it went crashing down to the floor of the Opry stage, right in the middle of the circle - the guitar and the floor now have matching dents!

The audience let out a gasp in unison (it seemed). We just stared to see what Randy would do next. He just picked it up, strummed it once to see if it was still in tune – it was – and announced over the mic that it was a good thing it’s made out of metal. Randy then proceeded to sing the ever-loving daylights out of that song and the audience loved it!

Technically, he could get the dent out, but he’s not going to. It’s the best souvenir from the Opry he could ever have!”

She tells us that Randy made a strong showing with his voice in their first set as well.

“He started out the night with Shallow Grave, a solo with just him and the resonator, though the band comes in softly at the chorus and at the end. The audience went nuts before the song was even over. I’d be willing to bet he’s the first dobro/vocal soloist on the Opry in a long time - if ever - to get that sort of Opry response!”

Dan Tyminski will celebrate today’s (6/17) release of Wheels, his new Rounder CD, with an appearance on the Tuesday Opry in Nashville. Their set will be during the show’s first segment, between 8:00-8:30 p.m. (EDT).

The Tuesday Opry broadcast is available over the air in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com. It can also be heard live on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville).

The new CD is in stores today, and available from online resellers. There are still no audio samples on the Rounder site, but two clips can be heard on Dan’s MySpace page, or samples from all 12 tracks in iTunes.

Once again, The Grand Ole Opry has some bluegrass to offer in this weekend’s broadcasts.

Friday night’s Opry (6/13) will feature performances from Mountain Heart, The Whites and Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top X-Press while Saturday (6/14) night has 3 Fox Drive and the Carolina Chocolate Drops on tap.

Kim Fox of 3 Fox Drive tells us that they will also be performing Saturday evening at the Opry Plaza Party, a free event just outside the Opry House that starts at 5:30 p.m.

“We’re really looking forward to the weekend as we’re flying our dad in for Father’s Day. Crossing our fingers that the weather holds out!!”

The Friday Opry is broadcast from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. (EST) and the Saturday show runs from 7:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. Both shows are available over the air in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville), and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

2008 is shaping up to be a nice year for Randy Kohrs. He won a Grammy this year as a producer of Jim Lauderdale’s latest bluegrass recording. In February he was a featured guest with cooking star Rachael Ray. His music video for the single Who’s Goin’ With Me reached #1 on CMTPure’s fan-voted countdown.

Tomorrow, Friday May 30, 2008, the Randy Kohrs Band will make its debut on the Grand Ole Opry.

Randy, and several members of his band, have performed on the Opry stage before as sidemen with other acts, but this will be Randy’s first appearance fronting his own band.

The band will perform at 8 PM Central Time.

Congrats Randy! Show em how it’s done.

Cherryholmes will be appearing on tonight’s Tuesday Grand Ole Opry, in the initial segment that airs from 8:00-8:30 p.m.

The Opry broadcast is available over the air in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com. It can also be heard live on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville).

The band has continued to offer some sneak peeks from their next CD on YouTube. Throughout the video clips posted so far, they have refered to the project as Cherryholmes III, but that may just be the working title for this next Skaggs Family project.

In this clip, we see guest artist Rob Ickes preparing to track his part on the uptempo bluegrass song, Traveler.

And this latest clip is of Cia Cherryholmes recording vocals for the song, This Is My Son.

You can see all of the video clips on the Skaggs Family YouTube channel.

Cherryholmes also has a UK tour scheduled for this summer, doing shows in both Wales and England prior to their big show at the Cambridge Folk Festival at the end of July. You can see a list of their UK dates at ukbluegrass.com.

This weekend’s Grand Ole Opry broadcasts once again has something for bluegrass fans - both on radio and TV.

The Friday Opry (5/2) will include a show from Mountain Heart, in the 10:00-10:30 p.m. segment, and the guys will be back on Saturday evening as well.

Joining them on Saturday will be The SteelDrivers, who are stoked about their Opry night.

“The SteelDrivers are excited and especially looking forward to this Saturday night’s Grand Ole Orpy performance because it will be on the TV segment of the show. The televised portion of the Opry is on the GAC channel and airs from 7:00pm to 8:00pm. We are schedule to perform two songs starting around 8:45 (EDT). Needless to say, The SteelDrivers wish to thank the Opry for affording us this wonderful opportunity. Hope you can tune in.

After the Opry, we hit the Briley Parkway expressway and head to downtown Nashville to play our home away from home, the world famous Station Inn. Two sets of hard chargin’ bluegrass are on tap starting around 9:00pm.

One footnote, Richard Bailey, the SteelDriver’s banjo player, was recently married to Ms. Mandy Haynes on April 23rd. It was reported that instead of the traditional marriage vows, the couple just said, ‘If you can’t be good, be gone.’ Congratulations.”

This weekend’s Grand Ole Opry features a number of bluegrass acts.

Tonight’s (4/25) Friday Opry will include performances from Bobby Osborne, The Whites, Dailey & Vincent and Jesse McReynolds.

Saturday’s (4/26) show offers even more bluegrass, including a live television appearance by The Infamous Stringdusters on GAC TV. Look for them on Opry Live, which airs from 8:00-9:00 p.m. (EDT). The ‘Dusters’ set is scheduled about 15 minutes into the show.

It will re-air on GAC again at midnight Saturday (technically Sunday at 12:00 a.m.), at noon and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday (4/27), Wednesday (4/29) at 8:00 p.m., and at 12:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Friday (4/30).

The Whites and The Grascals will also be appearing on Saturday’s Opry radio show.

Both the Friday and Saturday Opry broadcasts are available over the air in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com. They can also be heard live on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville), replayed on XM 10 (XM America) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

In a final Opry note, The Del McCoury Band is scheduled for Tuesday’s Opry show on April 29, which airs from 8:00-10:00 p.m.

There is yet even more great bluegrass and acoustic music available from your radio (and computer) today (2/29). Tonight’s - and tomorrow’s - Grand Ole Opry broadcasts feature a number of favorite performers.

The Friday Opry boasts performances from The Grascals, The Whites, Jesse McReynolds and The Del McCoury Band. It airs in the Nashville area (and much of the central US) on WSM-AM 650, and live online at wsmonline.com, from 7:00-11:00 p.m. (ET).

The Saturday Opry show features Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, Mike Snider, Bobby Osborne and The Del McCoury Band, and runs from 7:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Skaggs’ segment will also be carried on GAC TV ’s Opry Live at 8:00 p.m.

The Dan Tyminski Band will appear on Saturday night’s (2/23) edition of The Grand Ole Opry.

This widely-heralded new group, whose debut release is expected on Rounder this spring, is headed by former Alison Krauss & Union Station and Lonesome River band stalwart Tyminski on guitar and lead vocals, along with Barry Bales on bass, Adam Steffey on mandolin, Justin Moses on fiddle and Ron Stewart on banjo.

It has been suggested that this bunch might be described as The Bluegrass Album Band of their generation, and that may well be true. With the exception of Moses, whose relative unknown status is about to be shattered by his association with this group, all the members hold the rank of player’s player on their respective instruments, and Dan’s is among the most recognizable male voices in and around bluegrass.

Brance and I expect to see them live here in Roanoke next week, and will post with our impressions after that show.

Look for Dan & Co. during the 7:30-8:00 and 10:30-11:00 p.m. Opry segments on Saturday. The show is available over the air in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

Should you miss it live, highlights from the show will be available in the WSM audio archives next week.

There are a number of great opportunities to catch some live bluegrass on TV and radio over the next few days, many being streamed online.

Today (1/15) at noon eastern, Balsam Range will be performing live on WDVX from Knoxville, TN. The show is streamed live online.

At 1:00 p.m., Claire Lynch will join host Gracie Muldoon for an interview on WorldWideBluegrass.com.

The Friday Opry from The Ryman on WSM will feature the Opry debut of The Steeldrivers, along with sets from The Whites and Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys.

Saturday’s (1/16) Opry show has The Whites again, plus The Del McCoury Band, The Grascals and Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press. Both Opry shows are steamed online at wsmonline.com.

On Sunday’s (1/27) Fox & Friends show on Fox News, Rhonda Vincent will be a guest. The show airs from 7:00-9:00 a.m. (EST).

This weekend’s two Grand Ole Opry broadcasts have much to recommend them to bluegrass fans.

Tonight’s show (12/28) will feature performances by The Grascals, Bradley Walker and Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press. The show is broadcast on WSM AM-650 from 9:00-11:00 p.m. (EST).

On Saturday (12/29), you’ll have a chance to hear the Opry debut of Dailey & Vincent, of whom we have spoken so highly of late here on The Bluegrass Blog. The band is fronted by former Quicksilver vocalist/guitarist Jamie Dailey and former Kentucky Thunder singer/guitarist Darrin Vincent, along with former Lonesome River band mandolinist/vocalist Jeff Parker, banjo picker Joe Dean and fiddler Adam Haynes.

Their first recording is due for a Rounder release on January 29, and unless you were lucky enough to catch the band at IBMA’s Fan Fest in October or hear one of the tracks from the new CD on the radio, this Opry show will mark the first time most bluegrass fans will have a chance to hear them perform.

Look for Dailey & Vincent in the 7:30-8:00 and 10:30-11:00 p.m. segments on Saturday’s show (all times Eastern). The Grascals, Bobby Osborne and Jesse McReynolds will all appear on the 12/29 show as well.

The Saturday show runs from 7:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. Both shows are available over the air in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

We may be smack dab in the middle of the Christmas season, but The Grascals still have a busy December in store.

They will be performing on The Grand Ole Opry four times this month, starting with tomorrow night’s Tuesday Opry, appearing in the 8:30-9:00 p.m. segment (EST). Then on Friday (12/14), The Grascals will be back on The Opry once again. Just after Christmas, they appear twice more on the December 28 and 29 broadcasts.

All of these December Opry shows will be held at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

The boys are also in the studio this month, working on what will be their third CD from Rounder Records. Look for new songs from Harley Allen, Aubrey Holt and Jamie Johnson. Of course, since this is The Grascals, we can expect a surprise or two as well.

There is no release date set but we are told that the new Grascals CD should be out before festival season is in full swing.

Tonight’s (11/27)edition of the Tuesday Opry has both Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and Cherryholmes scheduled to perform. This will be Rhonda’s last show for 2007, as she and the band are taking December off to recuperate from a very busy year.

The show runs from 8:00-10:00 p.m. (EST), and airs in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, simulcast via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

The Infamous Stringdusters were excited to announce late last week that they have been invited to perform on The Grand Ole Opry. Their debut Opry set is scheduled for November 23, the day after Thanksgiving.

Since that day tends to be one given over to family, frantic shopping and resolutions to start getting more exercise for those of us here in the US, perhaps Friday evening, 11/23, would be a fine time to tune in to WSM and enjoy these young bluegrass pioneers, fresh off their big night at the 2007 IBMA awards last month.

Dusters’ bassist Travis Book also had some news to share last week. His occasional, part-time band, The Colorado Playboys, have recorded a 6 track EP which is due for release on December 5. They also have an 11 day tour of Colorado set that runs from the 5th through the 16th of December.

Band members include John Frazier on mandolin, Jon Stickley on guitar, Andy Thorn on banjo and Book on bass.

You can hear audio tracks and find the tour dates on The Colorado Playboys’ MySpace page.

XM Satellite Radio has announced that they will begin carrying the WSM radio’s Eddie Stubbs Show and the Tuesday, Friday and Saturday broadcasts from The Grand Ole Opry starting in October.

The shows will be carried live on XM Track 11 (Nashville), and XM also plans to make individual Opry performances available for broadcast on other channels that feature country and bluegrass music - like Bluegrass Junction (track 14).

The Opry shows will air each Tuesday evening at 8:00 p.m., on Fridays at 9:00 p.m. and Saturdays at 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. All times are eastern. They will encore on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10:00 a.m. on XM’s classic country channel, America (track 10).

The Opry on XM will debut on October 20, which will be their 82nd Opry Birthday Bash. More details are expected soon as to the start of The Eddie Stubbs Show, which airs on WSM weeknights from 7:00 p.m. to midnight (Friday 9:30-12:30, after The Opry).

Country music legend Gene Watson has a new CD due on September 25 on Shanachie Records entitled In A Perfect World. On this release, Watson records several duets with other notable Nashville vocalists, among them bluegrass music’s reigning queen, Rhonda Vincent.

Their duet is Buck Owens’ 1964 hit, Together Again, which was also successfully covered by Emmy Lou Harris 12 years later.

In A Perfect World producer Brent Rowan invited Rhonda to see Gene’s performance at The Nashville Palace earlier this year during the Country Music Association’s Music Festival Week (aka Fan Fair). At the show, Rowan shared the news that Gene was currently in the studio working on a new project, and Rhonda expressed her interest in singing with him at some point.

Gene was thrilled with this news and Rhonda was soon invited to be a part of the ongoing recording.

Tonight, she and Watson will perform their duet publicly for the first time on The Grand Ole Opry, which will be filmed for broadcast this weekend on GAC TV. There is nothing yet about this on the GAC web site, but we are told that it is set for Saturday, September 15.

Cherryholmes will be featured on Opry Live this Saturday, during the televised portion of The Grand Ole Opry broadcast on GAC TV.

The show airs at 8:00 p.m. (ET) on Saturday (8/18), and again that same evening at midnight. It repeats at noon and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday (8/19), and once more on Tuesday (8/21) at 9:00 p.m.

You can hear the entire Saturday Opry radio show on WSM 650 AM from 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., or via live streaming at WSMonline.com. Highlights from the show will be available in the WSM audio archives next week.

There is a ton of bluegrass emanating from The Grand Ole Opry this weekend - on radio, online, and on TV.

Friday night’s radio broadcast will feature performances by Bobby Osborne, John Cowan and Mountain Heart, and Saturday’s show has John Cowan again, along with Mike Snider and The Whites.

The Friday show airs from 9:00-11:00 p.m. on WSM 650 AM, and on Saturday from 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Both shows are streamed live from WSMonline.com, and portions of each show will be available in their audio archives next week. All times are EDT.

On GAC TV Saturday night, their Opry Live program has two songs by The Grascals, filmed on July 24 during the Tuesday Night Opry. That airs at 8:00 p.m.  July 28, and again at midnight. GAC will run it again at noon and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday (7/29) and then on Tuesday (7/31) at 9:00 p.m.

In fact, if you are in Nashville Thursday evening (7/26), you can catch the last of this summer’s Bluegrass Nights at The Opry concerts with The Grascals, Mountain Heart and The Steep Canyon Rangers.