I had a chance to speak today with Jessica Lovell, the fiddling third of the sibling trio, The Lovell Sisters. She was making final preparations to leave for their European tour, which begins this Sunday (8/31) in Norway.

We talked in some detail about what the three young ladies have been doing for the past year or so, and got an answer to the question they have been hearing from their fans for the past two years… “When are you guys going to have a new CD out?”

The only studio recording they have released came in 2005 (When Forever Rolls Around), not long after they won the National Teen Talent Competition on Prairie Home Companion, and only a short time after the three of them embraced bluegrass music, leaving their classical studies behind.

Big things have happened for the girls since then, and their sound has matured as their professional life has expanded. A new album seemed like an obvious next step after being invited to showcase at IBMA in the fall of 2006, and by the middle of 2007, Jessica said that it looked like all their hopes were about to be fulfilled.

“We were working with a manager who was shopping us to labels in Nashville, and we had met with five of them who were serious about signing us. After a lot of thought and discussion, we decided to sign with Lyric Street Records, which is a division of Disney.

They had paired us up with producer Mark Bright, and everything seemed perfect. Mark had just finished producing Carrie Underwood, so we knew he could work well with female artists, and he had previously produced Mountain Heart, so we knew he was great with bluegrass and acoustic instruments.”

As they got closer to start recording, they started to get nervous about the direction things were taking. It was becoming clear that the label had chosen a path and a sound for the Lovells, and that the artist’s input wasn’t a high priority.

“It really hit me when Mark Bright mentioned one day that when he worked with Rascal Flatts, the biggest problem he had was convincing them not to record any of their original material. That hit me hard, as we wanted to do exactly that!

I don’t mean any disrespect to Mark or Lyric Street. They were great to us and treated us very fairly. It just started to look like we were heading into a place where we would lose control over our music.” (more…)

If you’ll be near your computer, there are a number of online shows you might want to catch today (6/20).

At 11:00 a.m. this morning, Jimmy Gaudreau will join host Carol Beaugard on Lonesome Pine RFD, broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to noon on 89.1 FM in the New York City area. Jimmy is on tour now with Moondi Klein supporting their duo Rebel CD, 2:10 Train. They are opening for Emmylou Harris over the course of her summer tour.

You can find their tour dates on the duo’s web site.

If you aren’t in the NYC area, Lonesome Pine RFD is streamed live online at WFDU.fm.

At noon, The Lovell Sisters will perform live on WDVX’s Blue Plate Special. The show originates from Knoxville, TN and is broadcast in that market at 102.9 FM – and via live streaming online.

Blue Plate Special airs at noon (EDT).

For those who subscribe to Sirius satellite radio, here’s another one worth your attention.

The Infamous Stringdusters will be on Sirius Bluegrass tonight at 8:00 p.m. (EDT). The broadcast will feature a live set recorded last week at Nashville’s Station Inn where the guys run through all of the songs from their new CD, The Infamous Stringdusters, plus a couple of bluegrass favorites.

Should you miss tonight’s show, it will replay on Sirius Bluegrass on Saturday (6/21) at 10:00 p.m. and on Sunday (6/22) at 4:00 p.m. (all times eastern).

Sirius Bluegrass can be found at channel 65 on your Sirius Satellite Radio receiver. They also offer a subscription-based online service, Sirius Internet Radio, and free 3-day trials are offered to non-subscribers.

We just received an email from a show promoter in Norway announcing that The Lovell Sisters would be spending two weeks touring Norway and Belgium in September of 2008.

There is nothing up yet on the sisters’ official web site – they only list dates through August – so keep an eye on that site for further details.

The Lovell Sisters (Jessica, Megan, and Rebecca), a trio of talented young women from Georgia, have released a live concert DVD. Filmed at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, it is titled The Lovell Sisters – Live at the Philadelphia Folk Festival.

The girls, between 16 and 21, are relative newcomers to bluegrass but as their debut CD and this live concert release show, they are very quick studies. Jessica plays fiddle, Rebbecca mandolin, and Megan resophonic guitar, with all three singing. They are joined by Jake Stargel on guitar and Andy Nall on bass.

Jessica tells us that the DVD was an unplanned event.

“Actually, we weren’t aware the set would be filmed until we arrived at the festival. It was truly an awesome night! We played the late night slot just prior to Doc Watson. The footage turned out really well.”

Ten songs are featured, and a track list can be found on their web site.