There is a lengthy interview with John Cowan available online, published by the folks at The ProgFiles - a site dedicated to reviewing progressive music of all genres.

John talks about his initial entry into the world of alt-grass back in the 1970s when he first joined New Grass Revival…

“I had actually heard them around 1973, in Louisville Kentucky, I was, as usual playing in two bands at the time. One was an R&B show band a la Al Green, and the other was an original band playing Prog-Rock called YOU. When I saw NGR I thought they were great, though I knew absolutely nothing about that kind of music. But they had a drummer, were all plugged-in (electrified) and jamming and playing Leon Russell and Jerry Lee Lewis tunes.

Again, I knew nothing about this style of music, had never played without drums etc. But, I was a really good bassist as I was so into Chris Squire, Jack Cassady, Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones, Noel Redding, Berry Oakley, McCartney etc. I actually was able to incorporate my prog-style playing into the band cause they were already into “stretching” so to speak. Sam & I in particular were only a year apart (I was 22, Sam 23) and he also was a Rock Fan. He loved Jefferson Airplane, Cream, The Allmans, Hendrix. Needless to say we turned each other on to a lot of music. I turned him on to Little Feat, he turned me on to John Hartford, & Norman Blake and on & on.”

…and incorporating politics into his music:

“Artists have a responsibility to the times they live in. Now am I gonna get up on stage and preach to people about religion or my political views? No, but I will do it in song and certainly in a public forum like the internet (and not anonymously!) The world doesn’t change when people clinch their jaws instead of their fists.”

You can read the full interview online at ProgFiles.com, or on John’s web site. The language is unguarded and freewheeling… FYI.

The holliday season is upon us once again and it’s time for a new bluegrass Christmas CD. Christmas Grass Vol. 3 is great addition to the iTunes collection. I personally enjoy Christmas music very much, especially when it’s this well done.

The subtitle for the CD is Featuring 3 Fox Drive and Friends. That should give you a clue as to the quality of singing on this recording. Astral is the only word I can come up with that comes close. Kim, Barb, and Joel Fox provide the harmonies all through the CD, and they are certainly out of this world. The Fox family members (3 Fox Drive) also handle lead vocal duties on good number of tunes, including O Holy Night, White Christmas, and others. Their version of O Holy Night is easily one of the best I’ve ever heard.

The instrumental performances on this recording are fantastic. Tasteful, mature playing is exhibited throughout by such illuminaries as Darrin Vincent, Byron House, Bryan Sutton, Cody Kilby, Adam Steffey, Aubrey Haynie, Joe CaverLee, Rob Ickes, Joel Fox and Eric Darken.

In addition to the instrumental guests, the singing of the Fox Family is augmented by a few noteworthy guest vocalists as well. (more…)

Mandolinist John Frazier, a founding member of Hit & Run Bluegrass, has accepted a position with The John Cowan Band.

John is a Philadelphia native, and joined Hit & Run after he moved to Colorado to attend college - where he discovered bluegrass music and the mandolin. He and his Hit & Run bandmate (and spouse) Rebecca Frazier moved from CO to Nashville earlier this year, and with John’s professional move to Cowan’s band, Hit & Run expects to accept only a limited number of dates for 2008.

Hit & Run will be recording a new tribute project for CMH Records soon, following up their appearance as part of the popular Simpsons bluegrass project, Four Finger Music - The Bluegrass Tribute to the Music Made Famous by The Simpsons. The new project will focus on bluegrass remakes of 1980’s pop classics, with songs like Take on Me, Jessie’s Girl and Everybody Wants to Rule the World planned for inclusion.

Check John Cowan’s schedule online to catch John, John and the boys near you.

UPDATE 10/19: Clarification… Before anyone gets the wrong idea, Hit & Run is still moving forward as a band. In fact, they are celebrating this week their sixth anniversary playing together.

Current lineup is Rebecca Frazier on guitar, John Frazier on mandolin, Andy Thorn on banjo, Steve Roy on bass and Tod Livingston on dobro. Livingston and the Fraziers are in Nashville, with Thorn in NC and Roy in NH.

Friends and fans of noted newgrass vocalist John Cowan have long held that he has a heart as big as his voice, but even the heartiest isn’t immune to health concerns.

After experiencing chest pains last Thursday, John was hospitalized where a partial blockage was discovered in one coronary artery. A stent was inserted, and John is expected to be released from the hospital tomorrow (9/14).

He will take the next two weeks off to rest and recover at home, but the band will be back fulfilling their busy schedule starting with shows on September 28-29.

We all look forward to seeing John back on the road, and wish him well as he recuperates.

The John Cowan Band has posted some new audio tracks on their MySpace page, designed to showcase the newly revamped band sound. These recordings are otherwise unreleased and showcase John’s more scaled down, acoustic approach since bringing new members into the band.

He’s currently touring with a smaller, four-piece outfit, featuring Tony Wray on banjo, Shad Cobb on fiddle, Jeff Autry on guitar, and John on bass and lead vocals.

A number of other unreleased demo tracks will be rotated onto their MySpace page over the next few months, so keep an eye (and ear) out for those - and find out when you can catch them live in your part of the world.

Here are three interviews we found this past few days in local newspapers’ coverage of upcoming entertainment events.

First up is King Wilkie, whose Reid Burgess was interviewed in The Dallas Morning News on July 23. He spoke with Mario Tarradell about the band’s decision to break with their traditional bluegrass sound for a more melancholy pop approach.

“I don’t think anybody wanted to go back in the studio and make the same bluegrass record,” Mr. Burgess, 27, says by phone from Richmond, Va. “Over the course of about five years we did every arrangement of a bluegrass song that we could possibly think of. I’m not the same person I was then. It would make sense to not do the same type of songs. We were steering ourselves in that direction. We were writing songs that sounded this way. We didn’t want to do the same thing again. It was starting to sound forced.”

You can read the entire interview on the Morning News site.

The Vail Daily ran an interview with John Cowan on 7/23. John spoke with Ted Alvarez about his current CD, New Tattoo, and also about his days performing with Sam Bush, Bela Fleck and Pat Flynn as Newgrass Revival. He suggests that he is enjoying returning to that Newgrass vibe with his road band.

“This incarnation of my band is the first time since New Grass that I’ve felt we could get back to that special place and make magic happen,” he said. “For me it’s coming back to something I know really well — It’s been a coming home of sorts. We’ve had this line-up of the band for over a year now and the response from the crowds has been overwhelming.”

That full piece can also be found online.

On July 27, the Cabot Star-Herald in Cabot, AR carried an interview with Larry Sparks. The piece is primarily about the new Sparks release, The Last Suit You Wear, but touches on Larry’s long career in bluegrass along the way. At one point, writer Charles Haymes brings up how much bluegrass has changed over the years, with pop and country influences being absorbed into the sound.

However, Sparks has stood as tall as a redwood tree, remaining unchanged and loyal to the genre.

“I’m exactly where I belong,” Sparks acknowledged. “I love bluegrass music. I’ve always felt that bluegrass music needed me and I know that I’ve needed it. I think we’re a good match for each other. “

That one can be read on the Cabot Star-Herald site.

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.

Banjo player Noam Pikelny is a mighty busy guy this fall. It seems like any time you investigate what is happening in the world of progressive bluegrass and acoustic music, his name pops up.

Until recently, Noam was a member of The John Cowan Band, a position he held for a little over two years, and left just this past weekend. Tony Wray is taking that gig.

Noam is prominently featured on the new Chris Thile CD, How To Grow A Woman From The Ground, and is currently touring with Thile and the other players on that recording. They are being billed now as How To Grow A Band, but will shortly fold that into The Tension Mountain Boys, as Chris reported in his recent GrassCast interview. (Chris’ MySpace page indicates that the new band will be introduced in a Carnegie Hall concert on March 17, 2007.)

Look for Noam to also sub for Greg Liszt on two tours with Crooked Still - on the west coast in early October, and on the east in early November. Greg had done shows with Bruce Springsteen earlier this year, and will be out with him again in the fall.

You can sample Noam’s music on his web site, or his MySpace page.

The popular Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in NY is celebrating their 30th Anniversary this year by joining forces with FestivaLink to make audio from this year’s fest available for online purchase. These will be full-length recordings which can be purchased for download, or on audio CDs, and will be available shortly after the festival concludes. Grey Fox 2006 runs July 13-18.

FestivaLink also recorded a number of sets at this year’s MerleFest. Audio from Doc Watson, John Cowan, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Hot Tuna, Mike Seeger and others can be purchased online. Prices range from approximately $10 for MP3 downloads to $17 for an audio CD of each set.