Older brother Rick stayed at home, working in the mines, all the while continuing to pick, sing and write songs. Shayne took to the road, performing with Dave Evans, Charlie Sizemore, Southern Blend, Unlimited Tradition, Rarely Herd, David Peterson and 1946, and Karl Shiflett, to name a few.

Now the brothers are fulfilling a lifelong goal of recording and touring together, and have announced the debut of The Bartley Brothers. Rick is on guitar and lead vocals and Shayne on banjo and vocals, with Taylor Baker on mandolin and Jayd Raines on bass and tenor vocals.

Their style is hard-driving and traditional, owing much to the sound of fellow Kentuckians JD Crowe and Don Rigsby, who the brothers have known and with whom they have worked and collaborated for years. Crowe has one of Rick’s songs, I’m a Hobo, on his latest CD, and Rick also has the title track on the current Junior Sisk album, Blue Side of the Blueridge.

You can hear three tracks from The Bartley Brothers on their MySpace page.

They are accepting bookings now for 2010 and beyond, with Shayne handling the band’s management. He can be reached by email or phone (859-321-9874).

Fred tells us that he just stumbled across the slides after decades sitting in a box, and says that he is delighted to be able to share them with the bluegrass community.

If you enjoyed the Bluegrass Country Soul DVD released in 2006, you are sure to appreciate Fred’s photos, which were taken a year after the festival documented in that DVD. New bluegrass fans will get a kick out of seeing some of today’s premier artists when they were younger, and folks who were following bluegrass in the 1970s will have some powerful memories rekindled.

There are shots of The Country Gentlemen, The Kentucky Gentlemen, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, James Monroe, Bluegrass 45, The McLain Family, Mac Wiseman, IInd Generation and the original Newgrass Revival.

Here are a few images Fred agreed to let us post, but you really need to see them all, put together in a very nice slide show online.

               

Fred also has a great many audio and video recordings from bluegrass events posted where they can be seen and heard online.

The film entitled A Kentucky Treasure: The J.D. Crowe Story, has been produced by Russ Farmer with the invaluable help of long time Crowe fans Frank and Marty Godbey, both of whom provided their interviewing skills, photographs and general knowledge.

As we reported in March last year, Farmer is a former producer and director employed by Kentucky Educational Television (KET) and this is the first film that he has made since his retirement from that organization.

The film includes interviews with about twenty five former New South band members. Additionally, many others including Sonny Osborne, Mark Schatz, Ricky Skaggs, Bela Fleck, Tony Trischka, Earl Scruggs and Alison Krauss have provided comment about Crowe.

Farmer spoke about the origins of the film and shared information about some of the trials and successes that have taken place along the two-year long path to completion …….

It was Labor Day weekend 2006, I was sitting at a table having cornbread and beans with the master of the five string banjo, J.D.Crowe. Thursday evenings at the annual Labor Day, J.D. Crowe Bluegrass Festival and jamming, cornbread and beans are mandatory. As we were sitting there talking mostly about golf, an idea popped into my head and it came out my mouth really before I had even thought it through.

“Would you mind my following you around with a camera for awhile,” I asked, “and maybe editing something together later as a ‘day in the life’ of J.D. Crowe?”

J.D. though for a minute and said, “yeah, I think that might be OK.”

Little did I know the next year and a half of my life would be pretty much consumed by all things J.D. Crowe.

Very soon after that conversation I realize I had suggested something that was much more involved than the initial idea. I didn’t want to just follow Crowe around for a little bit and put something together on the fly. I needed to do something that was worthy of this legendary banjo man from the great Commonwealth of Kentucky. Something that would show not only J.D.’s life but would touch on the life of all the artists who have rubbed shoulders with J.D. or been a member of Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys or with J.D. through The Kentucky Mountain Boys and for nearly forty years, The New South.

After having retired from Kentucky Educational Television in 2003, I had been searching for an independent project to do and knew KET offered grant money through the KET Fund For Independent Production to produce Kentucky oriented programs. I thought, what the heck. You don’t get any more independent than me, and you don’t get any more Kentucky than both me and J.D. Crowe. So in October, 2006, I applied for a grant from the KET Fund For Independent Production. To my surprise I was awarded the full amount of their grant and given pretty much carte blanche to do what I wanted. The Grant was awarded in February of 2007, and I went to work.

Frank and Marty Godbey are fixtures in the national bluegrass music scene and good friends of mine. Both have spent their life writing, photographing and living with bluegrass music. Frank is an accomplished five string banjo picker and mandolin player(Frank and I are in a local bluegrass band called Ruby & ‘Em). Marty quickly became interested in the project as we were both doing similar tasks. She is presently working on a biography of Crowe and many of the artists I wanted to interview, she also needed to interview. I very soon realized Frank and Marty were a wealth of information and photographs.

Both Frank and Marty volunteered to be a part of the production and soon became my “go to” people when there was something I needed to know. Marty and I would pool all our questions combining them into a list we wished to have the artists answer. It was a good system for both and proved to be a productive one. Frank and Marty both are near professional photographers and many of the photographs used in the project come from their archives.

Through the summer and fall of 2007, Frank, Marty and myself would travel a great deal to interview different artists. Doyle Lawson was our first interview and it went well. We followed that with Ms. Bessie Crowe, J.D.’s mom who, at 94 years young, still works the record table at local bluegrass festivals. We also interviewed J.D.’s sister Rosa that same day. Soon there would be over 20 interviews finished and they ran the gambit from Ricky Skaggs, a 1975 member of the New South, to Paul Williams who was with Crowe during the Jimmy Martin days.

I traveled to Tallahassee, Florida to interview Gordon Scott who was a University of Kentucky college student during the Kentucky Mountain Boys days and became a mandolin player in that band. Also to Okeechobee, Florida to interview Bob Joslin, one of the founding members of the Kentucky Mountain Boys.

On and on we interviewed folks who seemed not only pleased to be asked but really honored to be a part of the project. Earl Scruggs was quick to say yes. Jerry Douglas not only said yes but thought Alison Krauss, a huge fan of J.D.’s might be interested. She was, and we interviewed Jerry and Alison the same day. I asked Sonny Osborne for his comments, and although having suffered great illness this past couple of years, Sonny was willing and extremely able.

During all this time I was doing research on photographs, video and film. I knew a lot of video existed since I had done a lot with J.D. during my days at KET. I met J.D. the first time in 1975, when one of the producers at KET brought The New South into our studios to videotape a program for our annual fund raiser, Festival ‘75. I knew I had that and many other pieces of video through the years, but there were lots of video I didn’t have and I really didn’t know what existed and what didn’t.

There were disappointments through the months of research. For example; I thought I had traced down the performance of The Kentucky Mountain Boys on the old Dick Cavett Show only to contact Cavett’s production company and find out it no longer existed and had not been among those programs archived from that time period. I was sorely disappointed.

On the other hand, there were great achievements. I found that The Bluegrass Album Band had performed live on TNN’s Nashville Now, which was hosted by Ralph Emery. I was also told it was nearly impossible to obtain license for any video that came out of TNN. Most of that video is now owned by CMT whose parent company is Viacom and no licenses were being issued. Well, with the help of Dan Hays, Executive Director of the IBMA, and a couple of folks at CMT, I was able to not only trace the footage down but obtained a license for that video and it is included in the documentary.

Most interviews were finished by the first of this year, 2008 and with a July KET deadline looming, I began the editing process in January. Most of it flowed very easily. Other parts were more difficult but I found out really quickly it would take more than the original hour I had planned on to tell the story. With a quick call to KET and approval for a ninety minute program, I was able to breath a little easier.

The rough-cut of the project was finished about the last of March which gave me time to send out segments which needed approval from the participating artists. Once those were all back and approvals had been given, I could start the final edit and the tightening and sweetening of the program.

With two weeks to spare before my July 1 deadline, I was able to have the man himself drop by my house and spend the afternoon watching a program about himself. I don’t think that is an easy thing for J.D. to do but he was extremely patient with me and watched every moment.

When it was finished he looked at me and said, “You did good Russ, you did good.” That’s all I wanted to hear. (J.D. spent the rest of the afternoon just talking and picking on my old double pickup electric guitar. Can you believe it. I have photos to prove it.)

Shortly thereafter I submitted the finished product to KET and they were extremely pleased with the project. I don’t believe they expected anything less since most of those folks I had worked with during my thirty year career in television. Hopefully they were pleased enough to fund future attempts at producing an independent project around Kentucky Bluegrass Treasures. There are enough Kentucky artists out there to keep me busy for a long time. I look forward to producing their stories.”

Marty Godbey added some observations from her perspective ……

“I did the off-camera interviews, and Frank located pictures and helped my faulty memory, and we acted in an advisory capacity, as well. Russ has been around bluegrass a good while, doing his Jubilee series for KET, but Frank and I have been deeply involved since we were in (but too young to be in) horrible hillbilly bars in the 1960s. And I’ve interviewed J.D. numerous times since 1976.

When Russ first broached the idea to J.D., he was told (according to Russ) ‘Talk to Marty; she knows more about me than I do.’ That was a fine compliment, but I’m still making lots of discoveries, and never expect to know it all. I do know that everyone I have talked with, without exception, has said what a fine individual J.D. is, in addition to his acknowledged musicianship. That makes it difficult to do a ‘Warts and all’ biography, in the words of the late, unlamented Oliver Cromwell. J.D. has no ‘warts.’

I think Russ did a great job, especially since there is so little movie or television footage available for much of J.D.’s career; he managed very well with still photographs, and the end result is not static at all.”

KET, who are responsible for the grant money which enabled Farmer to work on this this project, will broadcast the 90-minute film sometime in November. It will be transmitted nationally sometime after that.

The program is not available on DVD and there are no plans at this time for that to happen. However, it may well be that the program will be offered as a premium for contributing to your local PBS station.

The J D Crowe Bluegrass Festival, now in its 8th year, takes place from 28 through to 30 August at the beautiful 111-acre Ichthus Farm, Wilmore, Jessamine County, Kentucky.

The showing is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. (approx.), 28 August.

Footnote:

As Russ Farmer mentioned, Marty Godbey is presently writing a biography of J.D Crowe’s life and music. It is expected that it will be a future edition in the Music In American Life series published by the University of Illinois Press.

Marty tells us that “There’s still the review process at the University of Illinois Press, and (assuming they like it) a couple of years to get it printed.”

The Masters band for the tour consists of:

• Bobby Osborne – mandolin
• JD Crowe – banjo
• Dean Osborne – banjo and guitar
• Bobby Osborne Jr. – bass and guitar
• Richard Bennett – guitar
• Curtis Burch – resophonic/steel guitar
• JP Mathes – banjo, guitar, bass

In addition to the Masters band, the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music Ensemble is on the tour as well. The ensemble consists of:

• Obadiah (Obe) Golding – banjo
• Andrew DeKemper – resophonic/steel guitar
• Katherine Boguss – fiddle

No tour dates have been announced yet. Booking information is available at opus3artists.com.

Just completed shooting is a fiddle project with Mountain Heart’s Jim Van Cleve which will go into editing shortly. Jim covered a number of his own compositions (#6 Barn Dance, Nature Of The Beast, Devil’s Courthouse) plus spent considerable time describing how to add rhythmically in a band setting, and how to find solos and backup in different keys.

Due to be shot next week is a banjo DVD featuring Ron Block and a mandolin video with Sierra Hull. Both will focus on these two stellar players and their individual styles. More details about these should be forthcoming soon.

A JD Crowe banjo DVD is also scheduled to be shot later this year.

If you would like to be notified by email when these new titles are released, you can make that request on the AcuTab site.

AcuTab is also pleased to note the reissue of two popular titles that have been unavailable for some time. JD Crowe – AcuTab transcriptions includes banjo tablature for all the songs on two classic albums by JD Crowe & The New South, and Kenny Smith – Tunes and Techniques offers 3 hours with this flatpicking master on two DVDs.

Entitled From The Heart and Soul, the CD is due to be released on August 12. Joining Wasson will be J.D. Crowe on banjo, Ron Stewart on fiddle and banjo, Adam Steffey on mandolin, Harold Nixon on bass, Randy Kohrs on resonator guitar and Don Rigsby, Sonya Isaacs and Ben Isaacs on harmony vocals.

The first single from this release, Merle Haggard’s Losin’ In Las Vegas, is included in the recent Rural Rhythm sampler, Fresh Cuts & Key Tracks, and we have a brief audio sample you can hear right now.

Listen now:

This one we will certainly be looking forward to hearing in full.

This event is hosted by noted banjo players Sonny Osborne and Bill Evans, along with Cindy Sinclair. They welcome beginning through advanced bluegrass banjo players for a weekend of small group instruction, jamming for all ability levels, a faculty concert and much more.

Evans shares a few thoughts about NashCamp…

“While folks come to learn banjo, the emphasis is also on making friends, hanging out with your banjo heros, having fun and eating lots of great food. We’ve had young and old attend each year, men and women – people from all parts of the United States and even Japan. I’m especially proud of the fact that we have a great group of women who attend each year – and that number grows with each camp. Sonny has been our guiding light with this event – his positive energy and enthusiasm along with his interest to stay involved with others who love the banjo inspires everyone around him. This camp has a great spirit. This is the camp to attend if you’d like comfortable surroundings, great food and tremendous fellowship in the company of some of the best banjo players and teachers in the world.

And with Sonny and J. D. in one place, who knows what will happen?”

Students are grouped according to ability level – from beginners with one year of playing experience to the most advanced players. Small group instruction is mixed with full group interactive sessions and the Friday night jam features some of the best Nashville musicians sitting in with students. Saturday’s highlight is a faculty concert that features all of the teachers playing in different combinations. Banjo builder extraordinaire Frank Neat will be on hand for the entire weekend, helping students with banjo setup and getting everyone’s banjo sounding its best.

“Folks often talk themselves out of attending a camp like this because they think that they might not be good enough players but that’s a big mistake! It’s important to remember if you’re feeling insecure about your playing, then everyone else is feeling that way about themselves too. At NashCamp, we do our best to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable playing with others.”

J. D. Crowe will be attending camp on Friday and Saturday; Charlie Cushman on Sunday. All of the other teachers will be at camp for all three days. The camp begins with Friday lunch and ends on Sunday around 3:30 p.m. All meals are provided. This event has sold out in advance the last two years, so advance registration is recommended.

Full tuition and registration details can be found at NashCamp.com.

The deminutive Fields was born in Hazard, Kentucky, and moved to the Lexington area at a young age. He started playing a guitar in his church at the age of eleven and grew up listening to Flatt and Scruggs on the radio.

Wayne and his brothers, Larry and Bill, plus a couple of friends put a band together and began performing all over Lexington. Although they performed all types of music, Field’s heart was always with bluegrass and the banjo.

Mostly self-taught, Fields had three lessons from a fellow employee at the local Holiday Inn, J.D. Crowe, who was playing there at the time along with Larry Rice, Tony Rice, and Bobby Sloan.

In 1977, he got his first job playing banjo for The Boys from Indiana, replacing Noah Crase. While he was a member of the band, they made an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry and on The Porter Wagoner Show.

Four years later Fields took a job with Renfro Valley regular John Cosby and the Bluegrass Drifters, with whom he won the first SPBGMA band contest in 1984.

Later that year, Wayne, his brother Bill, Ricky Wasson and Rick Johnson formed the group Southern Blend with whom he recorded and toured for 9 years. He also played with another Renfro Valley band Wilderness Trail. Other members included Dave Osborne & Jeff Parker (who played with Lonesome River Band and is now with Dailey & Vincent).

Later Fields joined J.D. Crowe, playing mandolin and singing tenor vocals for The New South.

During the last 10 years he has performed with various groups including the family band Driftwood, Gary Strong & Hardtimes, Rick Bartley & Blackwater, as well as with The Charlie Sizemore Band.

Fields is featured playing banjo and singing harmony on the stellar Charlie Sizemore album Good News that was released last year.

Wayne Fields leaves Tina, his wife, two daughters, Christina and Tiffany, and two sons Scott and Charles, both active bluegrass musicians.

Friend and fellow banjo player Frank Godley affectionately remembers Wayne this way ……

I could write pages about the kind of person Wayne Fields was apart from being a superb musician and singer… he was a gentleman and a gentle man, kind, generous, humble, thoughtful, courteous… you can see where this would go… as has been pointed out already on BGRASS-L, he’s someone you would have been proud to have for a friend; he enriched the lives of all who knew him.

I’ve told the story on the BGRASS-L before, but back in March or April of 1996 (”income tax season”) I got a phone call from Wayne & Ira Whitaker. Wayne was helping out at a liquor store (off-license) owned by a family member (I forget who, exactly) and they wondered if I’d like to come out and pick a little as it was a Monday evening and not much business was going on. I was in the middle of working on income tax, so declined the invitation… and no sooner than I’d hung up the phone I thought, “What was I thinking!!??” Called ‘em right back and asked, “How do I get there??”

That turned into a regular jam session every Monday night at the Parkway Liquor Store, lasting over 4 years, until the store closed for good, at which time we became a “floating” jam session for a while, continuing (unfortunately with declining participation) until just a few weeks ago. Wayne didn’t come often after the store closed as his day job (he was a golf course superintendent) required early hours, but he sure got us off to a good 4-year start.

Band leader and friend Charlie Sizemore pays tribute to Wayne Fields with a posting on his website.

“I first met Wayne over thirty years ago during his stint with The Boys From Indiana when I was a kid working with the Goins Brothers. I still remember being a bit taken aback by how respectful he was toward me – a skinny kid from Puncheon Creek still trying to learn to pick. He made me feel welcome and comfortable, and I was thrilled just to be able to hang out with him at festivals and shows.

As the years went by we became friends and I continued to be amazed and inspired by his talent, never dreaming that I’d be able to work with him.

I can say with complete honesty that working in a band with Wayne is the highlight of my career, and regardless of what happens from here I don’t think this will be surpassed.”

Credit for the picture and for grateful assistance with this tribute is owed to Frank Godbey.

The group is a largely studio-only supergroup, featuring James King, Don Rigsby, Lou Reid, JD Crowe, Ron Stewart and Marshall Wilborn. The personnel has changed some over the years and the three previous recordings under this name, but their penchant for finding terrific songs and capturing them in a soulful, traditional bluegrass style has remained throughout.

The CD, which has 12 tracks, is scheduled for release on April 8. You can read more about the new project in our earlier post.

The 20 song anthology embraces some of the classic songs in bluegrass music from some of the great acts in the business (track listing below).

So many of the songs here are inextricably linked with the Rebel catalogue; Bringing Mary Home, Fox On The Run and Atlanta Is Burning being three notable examples. These are signature songs as is Love Of The Mountains. There are the tour de force pieces like Rice’s Nine Pound Hammer and JD Crowe’s Train 45 also.

Most of the material is direct from the Rebel vaults, whereas some came to them indirectly, such as – and I speculate here – the Lilly Brothers track, which was originally recorded for Event Records in 1956 or 1957 and later appeared on a County LP. It was subsequently reissued on a Rebel CD (1688). Others in this category are Little Rosewood Casket – Don Reno & Red Smiley (from a Wango LP), Footprints In The Snow – Mac Wiseman (Vetco material, perhaps), Poor Ellen Smith – Ted Lundy & the Southern Mountain Boys (County), Pig In A Pen – Stanley Brothers (Wango) and Lonesome Road Blues – Larry Richardson & Happy Smith (County).

There’s lots of fine traditional material here, which is typical of this series, and which, apparently, has been doing very well for Rebel. Judging by the titles and the artists listed, the potential for this set to match its predecessors is great.

For those who have a long-time interest in bluegrass music the songs and the respective bands speak for themselves; for newcomers this album is a good place to start investigating the Rebel catalogue.

Thanks must be made to Gary Reid for sharing his thoughts on some aspects of this collection.

Complete track list…

• Nine Pound Hammer – Tony Rice
• John Henry – Lilly Brothers & Don Stover
• Bringing Mary Home – Country Gentlemen
• Wabash Cannonball – Claire Lynch
• Whitehouse Blues – Del McCoury
• Footprints In The Snow – Mac Wiseman
• Atlanta Is Burning – Boys From Indiana
• Fireball Mail – Lonesome River Band
• Fox On The Run – Emerson & Waldron
• Poor Ellen Smith – Ted Lundy & the Southern Mountain Boys
• Love Of The Mountains – Lost & Found
• Darling Corey – Seldom Scene
• Little Glass Of Wine – Ralph Stanley
• Train 45 – J.D. Crowe
• Little Rosewood Casket – Don Reno & Red Smiley
• Pig In A Pen – Stanley Brothers
• Dream Of A Miner’s Child – Whitley & Skaggs
• Down In The Willow Garden – Dave Evans
• Roving Gambler – Larry Sparks
• Lonesome Road Blues – Larry Richardson & Happy Smith

It is a little over ten years since the debut release by the super group bearing the name Longview and with their first release they caused so much of a furor that two more followed in quick succession. Now it is six years since the last and I, for one, didn’t expect to enjoy the prospect of another album.

The three remaining original members Marshall Wilborn (acoustic bass, vocals), Don Rigsby (mandolin, vocals) and James King (vocals) are joined by Lou Reid (guitar, vocals), Ron Stewart (fiddles, vocals) and J.D. Crowe (banjo, vocals) for this particular set of recordings. To quote from the liner notes, the result is…

“…a potent new line-up with the chops, discipline, and heart required to make the bluegrass tradition come alive. From the first note to the last, Deep In The Mountains is a striking update of the band’s long-held goal: soulful old-school bluegrass with soaring lead singing and riveting three-part harmonies.”

Deep In The Mountains, self produced by the group member and recorded at Skaggs’ Place Studio; Hendersonville, Tennessee, comprises a dozen excellent songs ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ..

Eating Out of Your Hand, Dudley Connell’s Weathered Grey Stone – what irony!, Randall Hylton’s Room at the Top of the Stairs, Don’t Leave Me Alone (one of two James King’s favourites by Cullen Galyean), Old Log Cabin (John Sloas-Lonnie Nipper), Cotton Eyed Joe, I’ll Love Nobody But You, Baptism of Jesse Taylor (classic country from Dallas Frazier and Sanger Shafer), the Louvin Brothers’ composition I’m Gonna Love You One More Time, At the First Fall of Snow, I Love You Yet and Georgia Bound (Charlie Moore-Bill Napier).

Don Rigsby, the prime mover in getting things organised for this album, comments ………………..

“The songs were compiled by all of the members of the band and Ken Irwin too. There actually are no new songs per se, but lots of obscure old material in keeping with the Longview tradition. The lead singing duties are split with James, Lou Reid and I. Of interest to all of the fiddlers and banjo pickers out there will be a version of Cotton Eyed Joe from Ron Stewart and J.D. Crowe with a break from myself and one from Lou Reid too.

As for rehearsal, the way we have always made these was to hatch the arrangements in the studio and record them while they were fresh.

We are currently booking shows and are booked by Mike Drudge at Class Act Entertainment. We hope to see the fans at some premier event in the near future.”

Rigsby adds in the liner notes,

“Though we don’t work a hundred dates a year, when we do play, we’re as real a band as Rhonda Vincent & the Rage or Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. We all love playing together; that’s the absolute truth of it. But we also all have other bands and commitments. That makes it much more intense; you play with more fervour when you know you’re not going to have that many opportunities.”

Deep In The Mountains marks the group’s return to the Rounder label, whose website indicates a CD release date of March 11.

Rigsby explains the thinking regarding the return to the Rounder roster of artists ……..

“It was the consensus of the collective members of the group that since J.D., Ron, Marshall and James were all Rounder artists already, much could be accomplished in the promotional department and it would simplify lots of this. Rebel did a good job for us too.”

Lou Reid endorses this ………

“James wanted to put this album on Rounder because they were very interested in this CD. James is a Rounder artist as well as Crowe. Ron and Marshall both have recorded for them as well.”

And adds a personal observation ……….

“I enjoyed very much working with Ken Irwin, he was instrumental in keeping the ‘tradition’ in the traditional sound that Longview is known for.”

There aren’t any audio clips available at the moment but we will let you know when there are.

His band, The New South, was responsible for introducing such influential voices as Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley to wider audiences. A great many other current bluegrass pros spent time with The New South, including Don Rigsby, Darrell Webb, Richard Bennett among them.

His 2007 band, who recorded with him on their latest CD, Lefty’s Old Guitar, was properly regarded as one of his finest. It was also one of his longest lived, staying together as a unit for a solid 7 years. The band featured Ricky Wasson on guitar and vocals, Dwight McCall on mandolin and vocals, Ron Stewart on fiddle and Harold Nixon on bass. Wasson and McCall had been with Crowe several years before Nixon joined in 1999, and Stewart joined full time in 2000.

With Ron Stewart now gone to play banjo with The Dan Tyminski Band and Harold Nixon leaving to pursue other opportunities, Crowe found himself once again looking for new members to fill out his touring group.

He told us that he had been dreading the idea of holding auditions, and possibly having to hire inexperienced younger musicians.

“It doesn’t seem like those guys were with me that long, but when you get 7-8 years out of a guy, you’re flying high.

Before I could think about auditions, Steve Thomas called about the fiddle gig, and John Bowman when he heard about an opening on bass. Steve had filled in with me several times when Ron couldn’t make it, and I probably would have called him anyway. Steve is a great fiddler and a great guy.

John will be singing as well as playing bass, and we’re glad to have him with us.”

Steve Thomas has worked with several well known bluegrass bands, including The Osborne Brothers, Jim & Jesse and Lost & Found. John Bowman was a member of both The Issacs and Alison Krauss & Union Station.

They will be rehearsing this weekend, and do their first show on January 18 at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, KY. They’ll also be at SPBGMA in Nashville in February, with a Station Inn show that week as well.

I spoke with Ron earlier this week, and he expressed his excitement about this new chapter in his career, and the difficulty – and surprising success – of keeping this quiet for the past few months.

Ron said that they would be heading into the studio the second week of November to start work on a CD, which is expected to be released early in 2008. The sound is “in your face grass,” with some lighter, ballad-like material as well for contrast.

The Dan Tyminski Band will be booked by Keith Case & Associates and managed by DS Management. Tour dates for 2008 are starting to come in, and a busy schedule for next year is anticipated.

Ron also asked if we would publish an open letter to the bluegrass community, which he wrote to combat a number of unfounded rumors which have begun circulating about his departure from JD Crowe & The New South. It is a heartfelt tribute to one of the giants in our world, and goes a long way towards explaining why Ron is one of the most widely admired and respected people in bluegrass music.

Many, if not all of you have heard that I am leaving JD Crowe and The New South at the first of the year, and will be a full time member of The Dan Tyminski Band. After spending just one day at IBMA last week, rumors had already started to surface pertaining to the reasons I am leaving JD, none of which I heard were true. I am not sure why some folks have a need to make up their own versions for such happenings, about which these folks know nothing – but such is the case in our very “close knit” business.

So I will explain to the best of my ability what you, the people and fans, need to know about this situation. The main reason I am doing so is my respect for JD, who I am proud to call my friend, in and out of the music business.

I started to work with JD early in 2002 on a fill-in basis, doing every show that I could possibly make while working with Lynn Morris, and from the first note we ever played together, we connected musically. That same year, Lynn tragically suffered a stroke due to a surgery, and couldn’t finish the year herself. I went on to play the rest of the year with Marshall Wilborn, Jesse Brock, and Lloyd Douglas to finish dates that we were obligated to do, and didn’t join the New South until those dates were played.

I have never been a “jump and run” kind of guy, leaping at the first offer that came my way – and I’m no different now. JD gained my respect by not trying to get me to join his band while I was working with Lynn, and I hold the highest respect for him in that regard. Not many in our business are that respectful – and there are quite a few, with whom everyone out there would be familiar, who are not.

JD has lived “old” school bluegrass his whole life, and has picked with and studied all of those wonderful players, who still today are revered by all who know soul, timing, and taste. I grew up a generation later than JD, but I have spent my lifetime, literally, since I was three years old listening and studying that same music, and it is just as dear to my heart as it is his. I can not tell you the hours spent on the road talking, listening and watching classic bluegrass and country music together and how much it has meant to me for JD to share his thoughts and talents with me.

The first show I ever played with JD was at The Birchmere in D.C., and when I asked him if he wanted to go over a few tunes before the show, he said “Sure… kick off “No Mother Or Dad.’ ” This was not what I had expected, but I kicked it off as close to Benny Sims’ original version as I could play, and when we got done with that tune, JD said, “That’s good enough for me. If you know that stuff, mine won’t be a problem.”

He didn’t care if I knew his stuff (which I did), he cared that I knew the right stuff, and WHY!

Back to the subject at hand, I am leaving the band because it is a professional move I need to make, but NOT because I am not or have not been satisfied with JD, Rick, Dwight, or Harold. I love JD, and he knows that, and I feel just as close to him as ever, and I will surely miss playing music with him. Even more than that, I will miss hanging out with him, getting Starbucks, and watching Beavis and Butthead! I would do anything for JD, anytime, and that goes for Harold, Rick and Dwight as well! I don’t feel like I’m losing a friend, I feel I have gained a rare, true friend.

I also want to say that Harold Nixon, Ricky Wasson, and Dwight McCall are like brothers to me, and I will surely miss picking and traveling with them. They have been there for me thru some trying times, and also the best times! I love you guys, and I’m proud to call each of you my friends for life!

I appreciate the fact that no one has posted anything on any of the discussion boards as to why I am leaving JD, and I respect all of you who haven’t!!!

I say all this for those few that have started things by word of mouth, and so the rest of you know where I stand. I am looking forward to working with Dan, Barry, Adam, and Justin, and I want to thank all of you for all of your support throughout the years, and I will thank you in advance for your continued support, for without you all I would be nothing, no matter how well I might play.

Sincerely.

Ron Stewart

The video of that show is now available for viewing online at the Woodsongs site. The show features performances by Cherryholmes, teen-aged grassers Kentucky Sassafras, and Kentucky bluegrass legend JD Crowe.

Governor Fletcher shows his bluegrass street cred by mentioning how he would go to the Holiday Inn in Lexington while he was in college to catch JD Crowe perform.

Visit the Woodsongs site to watch the video and see/hear songs from Cherryholmes new CD, Cherryholmes II: Black & White, tunes by Kentucky Sassafras and a banjo mandolin duet featuring Scott Napier on mandolin, and both Cia Cherryholmes and JD Crowe on banjo.

The state’s Governor, Ernie Fletcher, will be making a special appearance, along with banjo legend J.D. Crowe and IBMA Executive Director Dan Hays, for the signing of House Bill 71. The bill will make bluegrass music the offical music of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

The event will be marked by the performance of some bluegrass music by the bands Kentucky Sassafras and Cherryholmes. Most of you are probably familiar with 2005 IBMA Entertainer of Year, Cherryholmes, but you may not be so familiar with Kentucky Sassafras. This is a young band of teenage pickers from the Boston, KY area.

Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour will be on hand to film the proceedings. The Woodsongs Webcast due to air that evening from 6:55-8:15pm EST will feature performances from both bands as well as J.D. Crowe and The New South.

While all but one state have official state songs, as best I can tell Kentucky will be the first state to adopt an official state music. It’s quite an honor for bluegrass music to have that distinction.

You can see the video from this show as a Windows Media Video.

Woodsongs airs every week on dozens of public and community radio stations all over the world, on XM Satellite Radio’s The Village, and via live video streaming from the show’s web site. Each episode is also maintained in their online archive, where you can watch the video, listen to the audio, or download the MP3 for each broadcast. Other recent shows that may be of interest to Bluegrass Blog readers include:

The Kruger Brothers and The Chocolate Drops
The Infamous Stringdusters and Martha Scanlan
Tony Joe White and Dale Ann Bradley
J.D. Crowe & New South
Chris Thile & How To Grow A Band
The John Cowan Band and E Muzeki
Tony Trischka and Crooked Still
Cindy Bullens and Uncle Earl

These include a first-time-on-CD reissue of JD Crowe’s classic Bluegrass Holiday, and compilations of new-to-CD Gospel cuts from Ralph Stanley, Mountain Preacher’s Child, and a budget-priced Seldom Scene compilation project, Different Roads.

More details about all three can be found in our earlier post.

You can listen to audio samples from Bluegrass Holiday, Mountain Preacher’s Child and Different Roads in the iTunes Music Store.

Both at the start of his career at KET, and now in his retirement, Farmer’s professional life has been influenced by the music of JD Crowe. He tells this story of a day shortly after he started at KET as an assistant director in 1975.

“One of the television directors at the time called me in my office one morning and asked if I were busy. I wasn’t. He had a group of musicians in the studio who were recording a program for KET’s first annual Tele-Fund. The Floor Director, the person in the studio in control of starting and stopping the action, was having some degree of trouble being heard over the musicians and would I come down and give them a hand. I did.

The band in the studio that day was J.D. Crowe and The New South which featured arguably the best bluegrass pickers that ever were: J.D. Crowe, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas and Bobby Slone. All the guys were great that day and I enjoyed very much working with them. We recorded all that day and I had a great time watching and listening between my duties as Floor Director.”

The videotape of that fine performance – with the pompadour hair and the shiny shirts – became an underground treasure, and was available commercially for a time on VHS. For many folks, watching this video is the only chance they’ll ever have to see the groundbreaking band live.

Last fall, just a few years into his retirement from KET, Russ started a conversation with Crowe that has led to plans for him to create a documentary about the life and times of JD Crowe. It will be funded by the KET Independent Production Grant, offered to qualified independent Kentucky film producers who wish to create a project about Kentucky subjects.

When completed, it will be aired on KET-affiliated stations in KY, and hopefully licensed for distribution to other public television properties through the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA).

We had the opportunity to conduct a lengthy interview with Russ about this project, here he shared his goals and vision for this film, and how you can help! Please read the whole interview if you are interested in this Crowe documentary.

Q. What led you to pursue this concept for a documentary?

A. I love bluegrass music. During the thirty years I worked for KET, I had the chance to work in the field of music quite a bit. I had co-produced a biography of Kentucky folk artist, Jean Ritchie titled "Mountain Born: The Jean Ritchie Story". It had turned out really well and I had proposed a series of programs at KET which would be titled, "Mountain Born: The _______________Story." KET was never able to fund that proposed series and I guess I carried the idea all those years. After retiring, I was looking for a project to do and since J.D. Crowe was a neighbor and I had become acquainted with him over the years, it was only natural I gravitated toward doing a similar project with him.

Q. Will Crowe be involved in the making of the film.

A. Yes, J.D. was of course the first person I asked about the project. I was sitting at a table at last fall’s J.D. Crowe’s Bluegrass Festival when J.D. came over with a bowl of soup beans, corn bread and a big onion. While he was having dinner I was talking about this project. I finished my spiel about the same time J.D. finished his beans and he said, "I think that would be a good idea.” Since that time we have talked a lot about the project and he is very energetic about it. Last week we had a four hour luncheon at Frisch’s talking about his career, folks I might talk to, and where we might be able to find more video, film and photos of his performances.

Q. Do you have archival footage to use for this project?

A. There is some but not nearly enough. KET video taped J.D. several times through the years starting about 1975 but it is the older stuff that is the hardest to find. The years 1956 ‚Äì 1961 which J.D. spent with Jimmy Martin at the Louisiana Hayride or the Wheeling Jamboree; The early years of The Kentucky Mountain Boys with the Joslin Brothers on fiddle and guitar and Ed Stacey on bass; or the later years of The Kentucky Mountain Boys with Doyle Lawson, Larry Rice and Bobby Slone. While they did television shows during those times, it was either live or the video tapes have been destroyed. For example: Crowe performed for the Dick Cavett show in 1968. That would be a great piece of video tape to have. It took me a week to track down Cavett’s production company, Daphne Productions, only to find out the tape had been destroyed by ABC several years ago.

So yes, I have some video and KET has graciously allowed me to use what they have but I have very little so far in the way of early photos, film, and video or other archival type material.

Q. Will this be a biographical documentary, following Crowe’s career in chronological order?

A. The answer to this question will depend a great deal on how much archival footage I am able to uncover. I suppose the answer is yes. I want the project be a chronological biography and I am producing it in that manner but I also want it to show that J.D. Crowe really is and so, I will be following him around with a camera somewhat like George Goehl did with his program, "Jimmy Martin, the King of Bluegrass.” I also want the program to be musically entertaining so where possible I will be featuring as much of the music as I can. I don’t know that you will see a complete song performed by J.D. and the guys, but we will see several versions of The New South including tunes with Tony Rice singing lead, Keith Whitley singing lead, Glen Lawson singing lead.

If I can get permission to use footage we may even hear a little Flatt & Scruggs, a little Jimmy Martin, a little Mac Wiseman and others who have influenced the music of J.D. Crowe. While informative and a program about the life and times of J.D. Crowe, this program will also definitely entertain.

Q. Will you include interviews with his former band mates?

A. Definitely. One of the good things about producing a program about a living legend is that most of the folks who helped him attain that title are still around. Unfortunately I did not interview Jimmy Martin before he passed away but George Goehl did and I am hopeful there are some words Jimmy left about his praise for J.D.’s banjo playing. I also intend to interview some of Jimmy’s other banjo players. The ones who heard the phrase from Martin "play it like J.D. did.”

Former bass player, Ed Stacey lives here in Lexington as does Bobby Joslin. These were two of the original Kentucky Mountain Boys. Bobby Slone who was with J.D. for 24 years continues to play fiddle as a staff musician at Renfro Valley and lives not far from here. There are all the folks through the years and many have already volunteered to help in anyway they can. Paul Williams has volunteered to help as have Phil Ledbetter, and many other former band mates.

Q. I understand that you are asking the bluegrass community at large to assist you in finding other resources. How can they help?

A. A friend of mine has had some 8mm film in his basement for the past thirty years. He hadn’t thought too much about it until I started asking folks for help. It is a piece of films of J.D. and the Kentucky Mountain Boys at the Holiday Inn from about 1972. I have yet to see the film but I will determine whether it is suitable to use in the project or not.

I really believe there is lots of that type material out there. Someone who was sitting in the audience of the Louisiana Hayride in 1957 might have taken photos of Jimmy and the guys or someone might have caught Jimmy’s performance in 1958 on the Grand Ole Opry without knowing that was the first time J.D. ever appeared on the Opry. A festival in the late 60’s where your father was taking photos and just happened to get a great show of J.D. and the guys rehearsing back stage.

So I believe there is plenty of material out there. Finding it is another matter. It is so difficult to find this sort of material, especially when no one knows you’re looking for it. This and other public requests for documentation in the way of film, audio recordings, video, photos, etc. will serve to let folks know I’m looking.

Q. How can people reach you if they have materials you might want to use?

A. The best way of contacting me is by e-mail. If folks have any information about any archival material whatsoever, whether it is film, photos, video, audio recordings, etc., please let me know.

Thank you very much.

Due on April 3 from Rebel is one great re-issue, and two compilations that will be welcome additions to many bluegrass CD libraries.

Bluegrass Holiday from JD Crowe was first released on LP by Lemco in 1969, was re-released on King Bluegrass in 1973, and yet again on rebel in 1981. The band featured Red Allen on guitar and lead vocals, Doyle lawson on mandolin and tenor vocal, Bobby Slone on bass and fiddl and Crowe on banjo and baritone vocals.

Recorded in just two days in December 1968, this record introduced Crowe and his Kentucky Mountain Boys to a bluegrass audience outside of Lexington, KY where they had a successful regular club show at a Holiday Inn – hence the album’s name.

Material on this debut release was taken from their Holiday Inn set list, and included a number of bluegrass standards (My Little Girl In Tennessee, Before I Met You, Orange Blossom Special, Train 45) plus some of their arrangements of songs like Philadelphia Lawyer and Will You Be satisfied That Way.

The Rebel CD re-issue also contains four bonus tracks, previously released as 45 RPM singles from King, and not found on the original LPs, including the original Crowe recording of Black Jack.

Fans of Ralph Stanley’s Gospel music have much to rejoice with the release of Mountain Preacher’s Child. This anthology includes 14 tracks from his 1980s Rebel LPs, all available for the first time on CD. They are taken from previous Stanley records I’ll Wear A White Robe, Snow Covered Mound and I Can tell You The Time.

This is the plaintive, almost primitive vocal sound that has drawn so many fans to Dr. Ralph in recent years, here featuring one of his stronger singing groups. Charlie Sizemore sings the lead on most of these tracks, joined by Jack Cooke on baritone and Stanley on top.

There is also one track, Looking For The Stone, which features Keith Whitley, taken from Stanley’s 1975 release, Let Me Rest On A Peaceful Mountain.

Different Road is a budget “best of compilation” from three Rebel LPs by The Seldom Scene. All 3 (Act Two, Old Train and The New Seldom Scene Album) are available as individual CD releases, so this repackaged release could serve as an introduction to the band’s earlier work for newer listeners, or a chance for more casual Scene fans to get some of their more requested numbers on a single CD.

Wait A Minute, Old Train, Last Train From Poor Valley, Pan American and Pictures From Life’s Other Side are here, along with nine other songs selected by Rebel’s Dave Freeman. These are peformed by the band’s original lineup of John Starling, John Duffey, Ben Eldridge, Mike Auldridge and Tom Gray.

Rebel also has two classic LPs just out for download-only release. Del McCoury’s Take Me To The Mountains (originally on Leather Records) and Charlie Moore’s The Original Rebel Soldier are now for sale digitally.

Kudos to Rebel for continuing to make these gems available for the iPod generation.

The series features Kentucky natives who are bluegrass musicians including: Don Rigsby, Larry Cordle, Bobby Osborne, Kenny Bishop, Melvin Goins, the Grascals and, of course, J.D. Crowe and the New South.

The series begins April 7th at the Rough River Dan State Park near Leitchfield, continues April 21st at the Frankfort Convention Center (this show is headlined by Earl Scruggs), then on to Jenny Wiley State Resort Park on April 28, and concludes May 19 at the General Butler State Resort Park.

The genesis of the idea can be traced back to Charles Lewis, president of America’s Bluegrass Inc. Lewis hosts a bluegrass show on WSAZ-TV in Huntington, WV and on KET2, Kentucky Public Television. He approached the park department with the idea of a single concert.

J.T. Miller, commissioner of Kentucky State Parks, tells us what the purpose is of holding this concert series.

From our standpoint, it is to build excitement for and occupancy of our state parks, as well as promoting Bluegrass music in Kentucky. Charles Lewis proposed a “big name” event at the 5,000-seat Frankfort Convention Center to build public awareness of the “Trail.”

Lewis was responsible was choosing the talent for the concert series, but following his Grammy nomination, Miller suggested they add kenny Bishop to the lineup.

All concerts start at 1pm local time and will feature a combination of secular and gospel bluegrass music. Lodging packages are offered at the three state park shows and include the concert, a night’s lodging, meals, and a chance to meet the artists.

The state park concert tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. The convention center show tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Tickets can be ordered by visiting the Kentucky State Park website.

J.T. Miller tells me that they may consider a similar event in the fall.

If successful, we’d like to do this in the fall at even more parks. Kentucky is truly the “Cradle” of Bluegrass, so it is natural that we would want to be a part of this.