The John Cowan Band has announced the addition of a new member, Bryon Larrance on drums.

Bryon grew up in Tennessee, but shipped off to the northeastern US to study at The New England Conservatory and the Manhattan School Of Music before settling down in Nashville.

Larrance joins Cowan on bass and vocals, with John Frazier on mandolin, Shadd Cobb on fiddle, Jeff Autry on guitar. He first auditioned with John during the summer of ‘08, and dd his first show with the band in November.

“It has been several years since John has used a drummer. Before me, Noam Pikelny played banjo in the band.

I had never been in a bluegrass band, although this group’s repertoire is much wider than bluegrass. We do some fiddle tunes, but we also do some Stevie Wonder and Charlie Parker covers. My background is more in jazz, so dynamically that is where I’m pulling from.”

I asked Bryon if this sort of ensemble had caused him to experiment with the approach to percussion he has taken prior to joining up with Cowan.

“As far a experimenting that is a big YES. We spend lots of time rehearsing which is all about experimenting and trying different stuff.  I’m using 4 different kinds of brushes, an upright Cuban cajon and a traditional jazz set up. It’s a blast!!!”

You can follow The John Cowan Band’s tour schedule online.

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.