I didn’t get to hear him play, but I walked by Casey Driessen, who was sitting on the floor in the hallway, preparing for his solo showcase. I complimented him on the cylindrical bushes in front of his house, which he tweeted about recently. They were a three-year pruning project. He’s not only a perfectionist when it comes to his playing…

I got to see the newest lineup of Special Consensus with their new guitar player, Ryan Roberts. As usual they killed, playing to a full room for the New England Bluegrass Coalition. IBMA President Greg Cahill always fields a top-notch lineup. I’m always amazed that he can manage the duties of President and still do late-night showcases. He must have almost as much energy as Little Roy Lewis.

Playing just after us in the Pickin’ in the Pavilion room was Asheville-based quartet Silver Dagger. Their banjo player is Grace Van’t Hof (what can I say, I always remember the banjo player!) and they were laying down a solid set. The duet with Grace and bass player Ashleigh Caudill was especially nice. You can catch them at showcases tonight as well.

My favorite act of the night, though, was Heather Berry and Tony Mabe. Playing on the Home Grown Music Stage I almost missed them because they appeared much later than they were listed on the schedule. Heather has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard and both she and her husband Tony have so much musical talent, expressed in a pre-bluegrass duet style, that it’s just ridiculous. I caught their very last song and it should be a good indication of the fervor of their fans that we clapped until they played an encore, even though it was nearly 2 a.m.

One sight that stuck with me was Eddie Stubbs standing in the hallway, surrounded by the Quebe Sisters. I know he is a big fan of their band–a western-swing trio with Andrews-Sisters-style harmonies. If Eddie is a big fan of something, you know it’s worth paying attention to. They play an official showcase tonight and I predict that the buzz surrounding them will be close to deafening.

It is aptly titled Before Bluegrass, because the music presented here is in the style of the 1920-1940’s. Recorded live with no overdubs, this CD reflects the traditions of early Appalachian recordings such as The Bristol Sessions. The CD features Heather and her husband Tony Mabe performing as a duo. The couple bears witness to the traditions that led to bluegrass music. You’ll hear echos of the Carter Family, Jimmy Rodgers, Charlie Pool and other old-time influences on this CD

My husband and I have been wanting to record a project like this since we first started dating. Now thanks to Tom T. and Dixie Hall and Blue Circle Records, we are so happy to present this album to you.

These are the kind of songs that we grew up on, and are very near and dear to our hearts. For name’s sake, we’re calling this "Before Bluegrass" because it really is the style of music that bluegrass came from.

…we want to not only help to preserve the heartfelt, beautifully pure music that they made, but to also maybe introduce it to new audiences who will hopefully love it just as much as us.

Heather and Tony are proud that there are no overdubs, punches, vocal tuning, or effects on this recording. It is just them playing and singing songs they love. Not all the music is old though. Tom T. and Dixie Hall contributed a couple of new songs that fit the style of the recording.

If you’re interested in hearing some samples of this recording, visit Heather’s home page. There are short samples from 5 songs featured in an embedded flash jukebox.

The Blue Circle Records MySpace page features several other samples. And here is a youtube music video for one of the songs on the record.

Songs available from that show include:

All seven of the videos can be found on the Hope River Entertainment YouTube page.

The show is the brainchild of Tim White, a well-known performer and radio personality in East Tennessee (Troublesome Hollow and The VW Boys), and Andre Burroughs, Production Manager at Blue Ridge Public Television in Roanoke, VA. They launched in the summer of 2005, drawing a local audience and filming several of the shows for airing on BRPTV.

These shows were also offered to PBS affiliates all over the US, and 26 picked the show up over the course of that first season. In 2006, shows were recorded for the 2007 broadcast season, and the show received a Telly Award for their work in season one.

The 2007 broadcast season will include live shows featuring Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys, The Lost & Found, Roni Stoneman, The VW Boys with special guest “Tater” Tate, Mike Seeger, Paul Williams & the Victory Trio, Randy Waller & the Country Gentlemen, Wayne Henderson & Jeff Little, Heather Berry & Dominion Grass and many others.

Tim White tells us that they have 50 PBS affiliate stations carrying the show now, and that it is distributed for broadcast to members of the National Educational Telecommunications Association through the NETA Program Service.

Stations wishing to contact Tim for more information can do so by email.

The new CD was recorded in Tom T. and Dixie Hall’s studio and the title track is one of Dixie Hall’s compositions.

Heather also has a new lineup for her band, Dominion Grass, which includes Wade Cox on bass, Travers Chandler on mandolin, and Robert Overstreet on banjo and dobro.

Located at 222 Fifth Ave. S., the Hall Of Fame and Museum is only a short distance from the site of the IBMA convention, and admission to most museum events is free with an IBMA badge. Special events include film screenings of classic Flatt & Scruggs shows, interviews, live performances from 3 Fox Drive and Heather Berry, and a book signing with Stephanie Ledgin. See a complete list of events on the Hall Of Fame web site.