One of the television attractions for April is the PBS documentary series Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People. The four-part series begins on April 9 and continues on each subsequent Thursday until the end of the month.

Already released (on April 1) is the companion soundtrack CD entitled Appalachia: Music From Home (on Lonesome Records).

The CD features such artists Ralph and Nathan Stanley, Art Stamper, James Allen Shelton, Jean Ritchie, Dock Boggs, Carl Martin, and contemporary songwriters Darrell Scott, Robin and Linda Williams; and Blue Highway; and youthful artistes such as The Midnight Ramblers, Molly Slemp, Clack Mountain String Band, Evan Carawan and Mitch Barratt.

Some of the tracks – Pretty Saro (Jean Ritchie), Midnight on the Water (Art Stamper), Soldiers Joy (James Allen Shelton), Union Man (Blue Highway), Gloryland (the Stanleys) and Don’t Let Me Come Home A Stranger (Robin and Linda Williams) – included have been taken from earlier projects. Others – such as The Blackest Crow (Molly Slemp), Shady Grove (Mitch Barrett) and Banjo Clark (Darrell Scott) – are recent recordings apparently done for the film.

Appalachia: Music From Home is funded in part by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, The Appalachia Regional Commission, The C Bascam Slemp Foundation and the Wise County, Virginia Board of Supervisors.

Check your local stations for more details regarding broadcasting times for Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People.

Martin Guitar & Co., probably the most famous guitar manufacturer, celebrates 175 years of production this week, September 9, 1833 being the date on which Christian Friedrich Martin immigrated to New York.

During that same year “Fritz,” as Martin was known, opened a guitar workshop in the loft of 196 Hudson Street, on the Lower East Side, and thus established C F Martin & Company.

For six generations the Martin family, originally from Markneukirchen, Saxony, and now of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, have designed and built guitars, always being innovative and providing the guitars to meet he needs of the day.

The company designed the mighty Dreadnought guitar, introduced in 1916, and this large-bodied guitar became the instrument for the bluegrass guitarist, being well-suited to backing up vocals, fiddles and banjos. Jimmy Martin, followed Clyde Moody, Lester Flatt and Carter Stanley in playing a Martin Dreadnought. Del McCoury, Clarence White, Charlie Waller, Charles Sawtelle, Tony Rice and David Grier continued the line. [This is an adaptation of a history published in 'British Bluegrass News' in February 1993.]

However, I don’t want to simply regurgitate a ‘dry’ history about the Martin dynasty. It is after all an oft-told and well-known story.

There is a multi-part history on he C.F. Martin & Company website. Also there was an excellent article by Dave McCarty, himself a Martin guitar player, in the March 2008 edition of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine. Other publications have, or are, marking the occasion with their own stories.

So, I thought that I would ask a few guitarists for their thoughts about Martin guitars and talk about the instruments themselves. Firstly, I questioned Dan Tyminski ….

When did you acquire your first Martin and what model was it?

“Three months after I joined Alison I got a 1946 D28 Herringbone (my first guitar).”

Have you had others since?

“Yes, I have since acquired a 1942 and a 1934 (both Herringbones).”

Did you use the Martin for the recordings for Wheels?

“Yes, for Wheels and ALL other recordings I use my 1946.”

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Our UK correspondent, Richard F Thompson, shares this review of a project he found especially worthy.

When cross-pick guitar expert and Clinch Mountain Boy James Alan Shelton was selecting the songs and tunes for this, his ninth solo CD, Walking Down The Line, he was in a nostalgic mood, reflecting on particular moments in his musical life.

The opening track, Soldier’s Joy, pays tribute to the late Clarence White, tragically killed in an automobile accident, and sets a driving tempo with plenty of hot licks from fellow Clinch Mountain Boy Dewey Brown (fiddle) and Adam Steffey (mandolin) as well as Shelton himself. Audey Ratcliff (rhythm guitar) and Barry Bales (bass) provide a solid rhythm section here and throughout.

Shelton had worked up a finger-picked rendition of My Grandfather’s Clock some years ago, but it isn’t until now that he has gone ahead and recorded the tune. Young straight-ahead banjo picker, Daniel Grindstaff provides the essential harmonic chimes here. Also played finger style is Old Toy Trains; it’s one tune that I am going to have to listen to again and again. It’s a lovely sedate melody, written by country singer Roger Miller.

I love Tony Ellis’s original tunes and Shelton’s version of Stephen twins lead guitar and his own banjo playing beautifully. Both of these last two performances are captivating. Salt Creek, or Stoney Creek as it is known in Stanley Brothers’ circles, features Stanley-style banjo from Steve Sparkman, a long-standing Clinch Mountain Boy with Shelton. These four tunes alone admirably demonstrate the varied shadings in style that can be found on this CD.

Nashville Blues comes from the version on the original Will The Circle Be Unbroken LP, a set that is a musical landmark in so many people’s lives. Shelton recalls Randy Scruggs’ guitar break while Grindstaff echoes Earl’s break, at the same time being innovative with an overdubbed second banjo part to one of the breaks. Another slower-paced tune is Fair And Tender Ladies; it is much enhanced by some triple fiddle parts from Brown. (more…)

James Allen Shelton, guitarist with Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, shares memories of getting music for Christmas.

Somewhere I have a picture of me as a teenager at my grandparent’s house in the early ’70’s on Christmas Eve proudly holding up copies of two Bill Monroe albums that I had gotten for Christmas. I remember that the albums were Kentucky Mandolin and Bluegrass Instrumentals. I listened to those records a lot when I was growing up and learned to play some of the tunes.

My grandaddy on Mom’s side of the family was named Bordie Porter and he was the one who first taught me to play the guitar. He lived just long enough to see the release of the first record album that I ever played on by a local group called The Bluegrass Travelers. He died just before Christmas in 1976 and I remember that as being such a sad Christmas for us all.

Then there was the time my wife totally surprised me by getting me the first two Bear Family Flatt & Scruggs boxed sets for Christmas. She put them in this huge box that a vacuum cleaner came in so I wouldn’t know what they were. I had no idea I was getting those and it was a wonderful surprise!