The new bluegrass/acoustic CD from Marty Raybon, This That & The Other, is now available.

It was recorded with his band, Full Circle, which features Daniel Grindstaff on banjo and guitar, Chris Davis on fiddle and mandolin, Glen Gibson on resophonic guitar, and Jayd Rains on bass. A few guest instrumentalists augment the band on several tracks, but Full Circle pulls the load for the most part.

This new project had been originally projected as a double-disc set, with a 2008 release date. Material for two CDs was recorded and mixed, but they will be marketed as separate albums, with the second one set to hit later in 2009.

Banjo man Grindstaff says that the CD will appeal to anyone who has enjoyed Raybon’s music over the years, from his early days singing with his family’s bluegrass group, through his time riding high on the country/pop charts as a member of Shenandoah, and back again to the bluegrass fold.

“The album could be described as an overview of Marty’s vocal ability. There are bluegrass songs, Gospel songs, and some ballads – all sounds that have shaped the musical style that he performs.”

Audio for one track, Next Thing Smokin’, a driving bluegrass number, can be heard on MySpace.

Raybon will be recording an episode of Track-By-Track for Sirius-XM’s Bluegrass Junction next week, with an air date sometime in May or June likely.

UPDATE 4/29:  Oops… Scott Napier just alerted us to an ommission above:

 I am playing mandolin tracks on all but 3 cuts on this project. [Far more than a guest instrumentalist, I would say. ed]  It’s work that I am very proud to have been a part of.

There are others that recorded on all, or the most part of this CD, but there are no detailed credits with the CD. They deserve individual credit as well. Maybe they could find a way to fairly list these credits for the fans to see.

Scott is on mandolin for the cut of Next Thing Smokin’ on Marty’s MySpace page.

Pam Gadd has been a bluegrass trooper for more years than she may care to admit.

As a youngster, she was drawn to the sound of the music at the festivals she attended with her family. She soon had a banjo in her hand, and learned to play the driving Scruggs style as she also began to develop as a singer and songwriter. By 1979, she embarked on a music career and had memorable stints with The New Coon Creek Girls, and Wild Rose, a bluegrass/country hybrid that saw commercial success in Nashville.

Wild Rose was also an all-female band, which included fellow Coon Creeker Pam Perry, and multi-instrumentalist Wanda Vick. They released three albums on Capitol Records, with a couple of Top 40 singles, before disbanding in 1991.

But Pam never stopped performing and writing, touring with Patty Loveless and Porter Wagoner, and penning songs recorded by country artist, Terri Clark, as well as bluegrass artists, Carl Jackson and John Starling, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, and The Rarely Herd.

She returned to bluegrass in 1997, and has released three solo CDs, the latest, Benefit Of Doubt, released just this week. The bulk of the songs are her own compositions, with a couple of bluegrass classics for good measure.

Pam plays banjos and carries the lead vocals, with assistance from Bryan Sutton on guitar, Andy Leftwich and Aubrey Haynie on fiddle and mandolin, Wand Vick on resonator guitar, and Mark Burchfield on bass. Dolly Parton and Marty Raybon join Pam for a pair of duets, with harmony vocals from Steve Gulley and Dale Ann Bradley.

Here’s a taste of one of her songs, a hard-driving bluegrass song, Hit The Highway.

Listen now:

We had a chance to discuss all this with Pam recently, from her early days in bluegrass right through the new CD release. My initial questions asked how she became acquainted with bluegrass music and drawn to play the banjo.

“I grew up with the music, but it would definitely be that I loved the bluegrass festivals and the bands we heard there. It was then that I really fell in love with bluegrass. I loved the Osborne Brothers cause I’d heard them since childhood, and the Country Gentlemen – I’d always loved their haunting records (Bringing Mary Home was the very first song I learned on the guitar when I was 8 years old). I loved Charlie Waller and the later generation Gentlemen, as well. (more…)

Here are a couple of good choices for online listening for Friday, January 9.

At noon, The Kati Penn Band will perform live on Blue Plate Special, broadcast from The Square Room in Knoxville, TN on WDVX.

They will perform material from her latest CD, My Turn To Cry. Joining Kati will be her touring band, which features CJ Cain on guitar, Jimmy Redden on banjo, Jame Kee on mandolin, Terry Poirer on bass and Penn on fiddle and vocals.

The WDVX is available over the air at 89.9 FM, and via audio streaming online.

RB Morris will also appear on the show.

Then at 1:00 p.m., Marty Raybon will join Gracie Muldoon on WorldWideBluegrass.com for a discussion about his new CD, This That and the Other, and the band’s tour in support which begins in February.

The WWB online bluegrass feed is available 24/7 at worldwidebluegrass.com.

You can read a bit more about the new CD in this piece we published last summer.

We received a note yesterday from Daniel Grindstaff, banjo player with Marty Raybon. He had a very special opportunity come his way just after Christmas and wanted to share the story with everyone here on The Bluegrass Blog.

Bobby Osborne was scheduled to play on The Grand Ole Opry this past weekend, coinciding with the 41st anniversary of Rocky Top, which was released on December 25, 1967. Bobby’s regular banjo man, Dana Cupp, was unavailable for the show, so Daniel got the call.

“Having filled in and worked with Sonny and Bobby numerous times in the past I always jump at the chance to play that music again. After I spoke to Bobby about doing the show, Sonny got in touch with me on Friday morning (12/26). He asked if I would like to play his RB-3, the banjo that was used on the original recording of Rocky Top and numerous other Osborne Brothers songs.

I, of course, said that I would love to!

The end result of the evening was me getting to perform on the stage of the Opry at The Ryman, during the anniversary of Rocky Top, playing the banjo that recorded it, beside the man who sang it!

What a Christmas gift! A very high point in my career! What a great banjo and a great moment!”

The audio from that Opry show should show up soon in the WSM online archives.

Daniel tells us that the new Marty Raybon CD, This That and the Other, is due for release in January ‘09, and that they will begin touring in support when they return from a Caribbean cruise with Rhonda Vincent in early February.

Tough duty…

The Marty Raybon schedule can be found on his web site, and samples from Daniel’s fine solo CD, April Fool, can be heard at CD Baby.